Forgotten Hope
by SJO
Summary: Rikku wanted to end Yuna's pilgrimage, but when Auron reveals to her the reason behind it, her life is changed. An AU of the game from Rikku's perspective. Please read and review!
1. The Castaway Blitzball Player

Forgotten Hope

A Final Fantasy X Fanfic by SJO

Note: Final Fantasy is owned by Squaresoft, now Square-Enix, not me. I've only played Final Fantasy X all the way through once, and I didn't see all of the details. I'm also playing Final Fantasy X-2 for the first, and really I just started. So, there may be some details about Rikku or other characters or about the storyline that I may not have exactly right. A big thank you to Auronlu for the online script; without it as a guide, I'd be doing this mostly from memory. The dialogue still may not be perfect due to artistic license, so please don't go pointing out every mistake I make. The time this story is being told I guess is sometime between X and X-2. For the most part, let's just assume that the Al Bhed is translated. I'll put in a few words here and there. There are a few spoilers and game secrets, so be careful if you're not familiar with the game. It's a little AU just because I'm stressing a theme that isn't made clear in the game. I'm not intending any romantic pairings. The story does focus on some close relationships, but I was intending them to be friendships.

--

Chapter 1: The Castaway Blitzball Player

It's strange. It feels like it happened a long time ago, and at the same time it feels like it happened just yesterday. I guess that's how significant it all was. My thoughts, my memories, and my dreams about that journey won't leave me alone.

I think it started when Father sent Brother and me on a secret mission. Ever since Sin was reborn, all of us at Home were troubled, but I think no one in all Spira was more troubled than my father, Cid. When my father is troubled, he plans. He mutters to himself and snaps at people. Those days, he was more like that than usual. He kept saying to himself, "I'm not going to make the same mistake again." He sent many Al Bhed teams on all sorts of secret missions. We couldn't talk about them even to each other.

Brother and I both thought our mission was kinda crazy. We were to search around the ruins of the ancient Baaj temple for forbidden machina. Legend had it that a flying machine, an airship, had sunk somewhere beneath those ruins. Father was convinced that if we found the airship, it would make everything so much easier. Brother and I just weren't sure that we believed the records.

We started on the surface, mostly to try to clear out difficult fiends, but also to look for treasure or any evidence that we were wasting our time. As we approached the building, we were all surprised to hear a voice. It sounded like someone grunting while engaged in battle. We exploded a wall to get in.

Inside, we saw a young man dressed in very strange clothes. He was holding a sword while facing a fiend. It was a big critter he was taking on, so I figured he could use some help. So I took my place in battle formation beside him. The young man looked at me in amazement. "You're on my side? Cool!" Well, that obviously wasn't in Al Bhed. I was sure the other people in my party wouldn't be too thrilled about that. All I knew was I had to kill the fiend, and I could use the guy's help. He was great, very quick and strong. A few hits of a sword, a couple of grenades, and that fiend was done for. "Whew! That was close!" the boy sighed.

Then, quite suddenly, the other members of my team grabbed the young man, held him by the hair, and pulled out their weapons. "Hey, let me go!" he complained. How could they do that? They just saw what he could do!

"What is this?" they said to each other.

"A fiend, in human disguise!"

"Yes, it is so!"

Now, that was just absurd. Everybody knows that most fiends don't attack other fiends; they only prey on the living. When they started talking about killing him, I had to stop them.

"Wait! What if it is human?" I said.

One member of the team held a knife up to the young man's throat. "They are all the same in death!" he said maliciously.

"I forbid it! We bring it with us!" They let him go with great uncertainty. Then I came to him and whispered in his ear, "Sorry." Then, I knocked him out.

"Well, if you're on its side, what did you do that for?"

"This mission is still a secret. He can't know what we're doing or where he is, but perhaps he can still be of some use to us. Help me get him to the ship." So, they did, even though they clearly didn't like it.

Brother was very unhappy with me. "How can you think that this is really a human?" he yelled at me when we got on the ship.

"I didn't want to take the chance that he isn't!" I replied.

"Use your mind, Sister. These ruins are thousands of years old! Some say it was built before Sin ever came. Very few people in Spira know it exists! There's no heat, no food, no drinkable water, no machina, no chocobo power! It's unfit as a shelter! How would anyone be down there?"

"I . . . I don't know. But I know he's not a fiend! I've never heard a fiend speak in a human language. And I've never seen a fiend fight like that, especially against another fiend!"

"Maybe it meant to eat the fiend it was attacking!"

"Well, he didn't fight us, did he?"

"It would have if it had the chance. You know that!"

Another person from our team came down to our cabin. "The captive is awake."

"Let's go talk to him," I said.

"I'll do the talking," Brother said.

"He doesn't speak Al Bhed, Brother." Unlike me, my brother refused to learn any other language other than Al Bhed. The truth is back then he wasn't very fond of other clans or races. He's changed a lot since then, and I'm pretty sure this experience had a lot to do with that. Father was, well, less than pleased with Brother, and instead he taught me several languages and dialects of Spira. I thought he wanted me to become a diplomat or maybe an Al Bhed ambassador one day. I was eager to learn that because I actually thought it's a good idea. Someone needed to ease the hate and tensions that was going on, and I'd be happy if that someone was me.

Brother, however, looked coldly at me. "I'll manage." He banged open the door to the bridge where our guest was sitting on the floor. Brother's idea of "managing" consisted of weird gestures and grunts. It was no wonder the boy still looked confused; I'd be confused. "Do you not speak?" Brother said sardonically.

"I said I don't understand!" the stranger said.

"Insolence!" someone yelled, slapping him.

"Wait!" I told Brother. Then I approached our guest and explained in his language, "He said you can stay if you make yourself useful."

The young man gave me that same surprised look. "You! You understand me?" Someone hit him over the head. "Alright, I'll work!" he yelled. He started to wonder around the deck aimlessly and trying to talk to people who didn't understand him. Poor guy looked so lost. I saw him pick up an Al Bhed primer, but I knew those only teach one letter at a time. That wouldn't help. He knew how to work the Save Sphere, but then I saw him pick up that Ability Sphere that he won in the battle with the fiend, and he didn't seem to know what to do with it. So, when he came to talk to me again, I explained to him about the Sphere Grid. Then I told him about our mission, without really explaining any details, and he seemed eager enough to help.

He was quite impressive while we were diving down into the wreck. He never had to come up for air, and he was still fighting strong underwater. When we got down there, we found the machina panel and powered it up. As we were exiting, we encountered a really big, dangerous underwater fiend. It was strong, but worse, it was sneaky. It kept moving away from us. The stranger gestured to me to approach the fiend from behind, and he attacked from the front. We took care of it in no time! I knew he was a lot more than what Brother and everybody else was thinking of him.

Yet when we came up to the surface and discovered that we did indeed find an airship, they still treated him like an ignorant prisoner. They wouldn't let him come down into the cabin. I tried to argue that he was intelligent, but no one was willing to listen.

"His brain is as big as the black circles in his eyes!" Brother told me. That's an insult he often liked to use for any non-Al Bhed, anyone whose pupils don't spiral.

"Well, can't we give him just a little gil for helping us? He deserves it!"

"And what would he do with it?"

Just then, I heard our guest groaning outside. "Hungry."

"He wants some food. We can give him that, can't we?" I said.

Somebody very quickly put together a tray of rations, some of the grossest food we had. I brought it out to him and kicked his shoulder. "Whoa, right on!" he cheered. He started gobbling it up like there was no tomorrow. It was amazing to me because I've never seen anybody eat that food without gagging. I was almost expecting him to lick the tray clean, but then he started choking. He coughed a few times, and he was ok.

I game him a drink and laughed. "It's because you eat too fast."

He laughed a little, stood up, and swung his arms. Then he looked at me, that same look of surprise. He smiled. "Hello there. My name is Tidus. What is your name?" he said slowly.

I smiled back. "Rikku."

"Whoa! You really do understand!" He started doing some sort of dance. I've never seen anybody so excited to find an Al Bhed translator. Then, his tone got serious. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I tried, but I didn't get a chance to. Everyone thought _oui_ were a fiend."

"Uh, we?"

Oops. I was so excited that I didn't think he was a fiend that I forgot which language I was speaking. "Oh, _oui_ means 'you.'"

"Who are you guys anyway?"

"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell?" I had wondered why he hadn't hesitated at my spiraling eyes.

"Huh?"

"Wait, you're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?"

"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is."

I think that's when it really sunk in to me that something was very wrong with him. So we talked for a while. He told me he was a star Blitzball player from Zanarkand. Yeah, something definitely was up. Then he explained that Sin attacked his home, and he somehow found himself in those ruins. He said a lot of other weird things too, like his father was another famous Blitzball player named Jecht and that the sword he was using was given to him from his guardian, Auron. Everybody knows that those were the guardians last time Sin was here. No one had seen them in ten years. There was only one way I could rationalize all this.

"You were near Sin. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you had some kind of dream?"

"You mean I'm sick?" he asked.

"From Sin's toxin, yeah." I explained to him that Sin destroyed Zanarkand a thousand years ago. His expression changed to shock and despair, and he expressed very strong disbelief. I hated seeing him like that, so I wanted to help him. "You said you play Blitzball, right?"

"Yeah."

"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone there might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize."

"Luca?"

I sighed in frustration. It was hopeless; he couldn't remember anything. But then I gave him another smile and patted his shoulder. "OK, leave it to me. I'll get you to Luca. I promise." Tidus looked like he didn't like the idea. I put my hands on my hips. "You'd rather stay here?" Tidus shook his head. "OK, I'll go tell the others. Wait here." I started to head under the deck, but then I turned back around. "Oh, and one thing–don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, OK? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone." I knew a few things about offending people, so I thought he probably should know, though he still looked like he had no idea what I was talking about.

I explained to Brother most about what happened, but when I asked him to alter our course, he laughed at me. "It's not going to take long, and I think it will help him find where he's from!" I argued. "Maybe we'll see him play."

"What makes you think he's a Blitzball player?"

"He says he is!"

"You haven't really trusted anything else he's said, have you? How do you know this isn't another hallucination of Sin's toxin?"

"Well, the way he handled himself underwater is one indication. I bet he's great. Plus, he looks like a Blitzball player." I added softer, "He's wearing yellow, after all."

"Agggh!!" Brother said in a loud, annoyed tone. "Not the Aurochs!" I giggled. "I've never seen him on that team of _muncanc_!"

"They're not losers, Bro! They're–"

"I know, I know, _ihtantukc_."

"That's right." _Ihtantukc_, underdogs. That's the reason I was a big fan of the Besaid Aurochs, and I loved annoying Brother about it.. I've always been big about rooting for the underdogs. The Aurochs hadn't won a match in twenty-three years, but I knew their time would come. They had some great players on their team, like Wakka. Well, especially Wakka. But he wasn't just an awesome athlete. He had excellent sportsmanship, and he always seemed so carefree and friendly. In fact, I was starting to convince myself that Wakka scouted out Tidus and hired him for his team. That what their team needed–new blood. "It would be great to see someone finally put those stuck-up Luca Goers in their place, don't you think?"

"Yes, and this year it will be the Psychs!"

I groaned. That's his way of annoying me. Whenever I try to talk about the Besaid Aurochs, he turns the conversation to the Al Bhed Psychs. They're alright. I even know some people on that team. But . . . they're not underdogs. I've seen them beat the Kilika Beasts, the Guado Glories, a couple of times they've even beaten the Ronso Fangs, and that team has a crazy defense. They still get creamed by the Goers. It's the same every year. I really wished for a team to win the Crystal Cup that really deserved it, and in my mind, the only team that deserved it was the Besaid Aurochs.

Suddenly, the boat shook violently. "What was that?" I asked.

"A storm?" Brother asked as he looked at the oscillator.

But then we heard the screams coming from the deck. "Sin! Sin is come!"

"Oh no! Tidus, we got to let him in!" I started running for the deck.

"Sister, no!" Brother screamed. He tried to hold me back, but I got out of his grasp.

When I opened the door, I saw Tidus standing on the deck, staring at the monster.

"Hey! Come inside, quick!"

He didn't seem to even hear me. A huge wave crashed on the deck. Tidus screamed.

Then, he was gone.

—

Nearly everyone was amazed that Sin disappeared after that. Why didn't it destroy our boat? It should have. It's Sin's nature to destroy everything, just like it destroyed our old Home. It was like all Sin wanted was that boy.

But I couldn't stop thinking about him. He had been attacked by Sin before. He was still reeling from the aftermath of his last encounter with Sin. Why didn't he run? Why was he just staring? He had that same bewildered expression. What was going on in his head?

Mostly, though, I spent a lot of time beating myself up. I felt like it was my fault that this happened. I should have let him in. I should have defied Brother and everybody else's prejudices and let him into the ship. Why did I tell him to wait on the deck? That's so stupid! I promised I'd get him to Luca! And instead, I let Sin have him. I failed him, and I felt awful.

When we made it back to Home, I told my father everything. I even told him some things I kept secret from everybody else, like Tidus saying he was from Zanarkand. Dad said, "Hmm," and nodded thoughtfully at that. I even started to cry around the end. "You shouldn't be so upset, _tayn_," he said after I was finished. "You did the right thing."

"No, I shouldn't have left him on the deck, especially when I knew Sin was around!"

"But it wouldn't have been smart to let a stranger into a ship who didn't know our plans. But you were right to care about him and to show concern. And who knows? If that kid survived one tangle with Sin, maybe he'll survive another. The way you describe him, he sounds pretty tough."

"Maybe," I said with a sob.

Dad grinned. "I know something that will cheer you up. I was going to save this as a surprise, but I'm going to be taking you and your brother to see the Blitzball tournament in Luca."

I gasped. "We're not just going to see it on a sphere? We're going there?"

"That's right. I got seats reserved for the leader of the Al Bhed and his family, courtesy of the new Maester Seymour Guado."

"A maester? But isn't he a Yevon priest?"

"Yes, and one of the most prominent leaders of Spira."

"But why would he invite us Al Bhed?"

"It's in return for a favor I agreed to do for him."

"He asked for a favor, from you?"

"That's right, rather suddenly after he was ordained."

"What was–?"

"_Tayn_, aren't you glad I got the tickets?"

"Oh yes, of course I am, but are you . . . sure about this? I mean, you got a lot of things to do, don't you? The pilgrimages are going to start soon, aren't they? And we really don't need a maester knowing–"

"Trust me, _tayn,_ I'm sure. We'll take care of the pilgrimage and the summoners starting right after the tournament."

I knew my father too well, though. It's not like him to deviate from schedule, especially in such stressful times, even if it was for a Blitzball game, even if a Maester was inviting us. There was something else on his mind, but the tone he used, especially in his favorite name for me _tayn_ (which means 'dear'), told me that I knew I couldn't question him . . . yet.


	2. The Luca Tournament

Chapter 2: The Luca Tournament

It was a big deal, going to Luca. Most of us Al Bhed rarely left the Home. It's not often that I got to go to such a big, grand city. Even though I loved Blitzball, I often had to settle for watching it on a movie sphere or watching the Psychs practice. I've only actually been to the tournament a few times in my life. As always, I looked around in amazement at how many people were there, how many hardcore fans. I saw people of all kinds–Ronso, Guado, Al Bhed, but mostly run-of-the-mill humans.

When we were getting off the ship, nearly everyone was crowding around one boat. We skirted the edge of the crowd to see what was going on. See, back in those days we Al Bhed tried to be inconspicuous, especially in big settings like this. There was no need for anybody to start a brawl because of what we are. So we tried to stay on the fringes and not talk to people. Anyway, the crowd had come to see Maester Mika descend from his ship. Maester Seymour was with him, and the two of them were giving a speech.

"Oh, I wish I could hear better what they're saying," I said to Father.

"Don't worry, _tayn._ We'll be seeing Maester Seymour soon enough. You can ask him then."

"We're going to see him?"

"Well, of course! I'm sure he's going to extend to us a greeting since he invited us."

It felt too good to be true. I mean, he's a Yevon priest! According to the teachings, just because we chose to use machina, he's supposed to have no dealings with us. Still, if he really did have good intentions toward us, it would be awesome to meet a Maester.

As we were heading to our seats, I first noticed that one of us were missing. "Where did Brother go?"

"Oh, he's going to be a little late." I didn't think much of this. I figured he went to the concession stand to get snacks for all of us. I always like watching Blitzball with a bag of Moogle Puffs.

It was just as we were finding our section that we crossed paths with Maester Seymour. He looked so impressive in person, wearing those blue robes. He didn't look quite as green as other Guados I've seen. In fact, at that moment, I thought he looked kinda handsome. That was way before I knew what kind of person he was, of course. I may have just been caught up in meeting someone famous.

"Cid!" the Maester said as he grasped my father's arm. "So good of you to have come." His voice wasn't really what I expected. It sounded soft and high pitched.

"Well, so good of you to invite us, Maester."

"Oh, it was the least I could do for a friend." He turned to me. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes, this is Rikku."

I gave a short bow. "Pleased to meet you, Maester."

He bowed deeply to me. "Charmed, milady, charmed." I couldn't help but smile a little. No one had called me 'milady' before. He stood upright. "And where is your son?"

"Oh, I sent him on a little errand. He should be back to us shortly."

"I am looking forward to meeting him when he returns. Yet speaking of errands," he dropped his voice, "are the men ready?"

Father spoke softly as well. "Yes. I do have a small band of volunteers who all swear that they are ready to depart at a moment's notice."

"Excellent, because we are probably going to need them soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. It depends on when the Crusaders can procure the–"

"As long as you remember our agreement."

"Wonderful. I knew I could count on you, Cid." He then raised his voice back to a normal level as he performed the ceremonial bow for the Yevon prayer. "May Yevon bless you both."

I was amazed at him, that a Yevon priest would even think about blessing us outcasts. But Father raised his voice at him as Maester Seymour walked away. "Hey Priest! Save your blessings for the battlefield, eh? I want those men back alive. I need them for my own plans."

Seymour turned his head. "I assure you, Maester Kinoc and I will do all within our power to keep casualties to a minimum." He then went on his way.

Casualties? Battlefield? Maester Kinoc? What's going on here? I looked at Father, hoping for some explanation, but all he said was, "Come on, _tayn_ we're missing the game."

Yet as we got in our seats, the game hadn't even started yet. Maester Mika was giving a speech, and they were just filling the Blitzball sphere with water. One of the sportscasters announced, "Our first game today will be the Besaid Aurochs versus the Al Bhed Psychs!"

"The Psychs?!" I cried. "But the Aurochs always play the Goers first!"

"Maybe a little change in tradition might give them a bit more luck."

"Brother's not going to want to miss the Psychs' game. You want me to go find him?"

"NO!" Father then straightened his composure and cleared his throat. "It will be alright, _tayn._ Your brother will be back with us soon. He's not missing the game."

That's when I understood. Brother hadn't gone to the concession stand. Father sent him on a mission. Maybe he was seeking for information about who the summoners are. Maybe he was somewhere else in the stadium. Whatever was going on, I knew I couldn't ask Father about it. Though I did make a mental note to ask Brother about it later.

I changed the subject. "I really don't like that the Aurochs are playing against the Psychs. I won't know who to cheer for."

"Well, that's easy. Cheer for the Psychs."

"But Father–"

"Let's not fool ourselves, Rikku. If you, as the daughter of the leader of the Al Bhed, cheer for any other team besides the Psychs, it will look very odd to others in the stands with us. Besides, we both know that the Psychs are going to win. If you really have your heart set on the Aurochs winning this match, you will be sorely disappointed."

I sighed. "Yes, Father." But just when the Aurochs entered the stadium and I saw Wakka smiling and pumping his fist at the crowd, I couldn't help but cheer quietly.

It turned out that it didn't matter which team anyone was a fan of. This match was full of excitement. It was actually very close. Most of the game, we were tied. In the middle of the match, though, I got really worried. Wakka was hit hard by three Psych players at once, and it looked like he passed out. I cried out, "Oh no!" Father, however, sternly nodded, almost as though he had expected it.

With Wakka out of commission, I looked intently at the other players. It didn't look like there was a change. I didn't see Tidus anywhere. I wondered, since he was starting out, if Wakka just made him one of the two reserves. But if that was true, why wasn't he taking over for Wakka? He probably could. I started to suspect the worse. Maybe Sin did kill him.

Quite suddenly, at the end of the match, however, Wakka revived. He got possession of the ball, rushed to the Psychs' goal, and made a shot. It was good, right a buzzer. The Aurochs finally won a game. I stood up and screamed. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THEY WON! THEY FINALLY WON!" Then, I noticed other fans stared at me. "Um, and the Psychs lost. Unbelievable! How can anybody beat the Psychs, especially the Aurochs?" I sat down. Father looked very disappointed. He had his head buried in his hands. "Are you alright, Father?"

He looked up. "It was a good game. I'm glad it made you happy, 'tayn.'" Obviously, he was not thinking about the game.

The announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen, there will be a fifteen minute break before Round 2: The Besaid Aurochs versus the Luca Goers."

"What I miss?" I looked and saw Brother sitting next to me.

"BROTHER!" I gave him a hug. "Oh, you didn't miss much, just the best game in all of Blitzball history!" Brother groaned. "Oh yeah, the Aurochs just beat the Psychs."

Father gave Brother a stern look when I said that, and Brother looked away. "Yes, I heard. Incredible."

"Now, they're going to play against the Goers. Maybe they can finally put them in their place, now that the Aurochs have a victory."

"So, did you see your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend! And no, I haven't seen him. I hope he's alright."

Brother gave me a look as though he wanted to tell me something, but he didn't say anything.

"Oh, and Father and I met Maester Seymour Guado! That was pretty cool, though it was kinda weird. I'm going to have to tell you about that."

"I'm not surprised. He's Guado, after all."

"He's only half Guado."

"Well, the other half isn't Al Bhed. He's still a black circle."

"Brother, don't say that. He's a Maester!"

"And a Yevon priest, who hates us."

"I don't think he does hate us, Brother. That's the weird part."

Then we heard the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Besaid Aurochs!" I looked as the team took the field and gasped.

"LOOK! THERE HE IS!"

I pointed to the player leading the rest of the team to the field. It was Tidus.

"That's the young man you rescued?" Father asked.

"Yep, that's him! I'm sure of it!"

"Well, good! Now we know Sin didn't get him!"

"Where's Wakka?" Brother asked.

I knew he asked just to annoy me, not because he was interested. But I looked down, and I didn't see Wakka anywhere. "Hey, where is he?"

"He must still be hurt from that injury from last game," Father said.

"Oh yeah. But he played through it. He was well enough to score the winning goal."

"Well, let's see if after two encounters with Sin this new guy can still remember to play Blitzball."

Tidus was amazing. He maneuvered very quickly through the water and made some great shots. Once, he even scored. His only problem was defense. He made some rather weak tackles. His endurance could also stand to be higher. And I kinda wish some of the weaker shooters had the sense to pass to him more often. Still I cheered very loudly for them, and Father allowed it this time. We all disliked the Goers.

After halftime, the Goers were ahead by a point. Tidus got the ball and made it to the goal. Three of the Goers blocked the way to the goal. It didn't look good. I knew they were going to pounce on him.

"Looks like he's going to shoot," Brother said. "He'll never make it."

Tidus shot the ball, but it didn't hit the goal. It hit the head of one of the Goers blocking him. It ricocheted off of him, and Tidus shot again harder. The ball hit the next Goer. It came back to Tidus, and he shot again. It hit the last Goer. Then, Tidus spin swiftly around and around and around and kicked the ball extra, extra hard toward the goal.

"Whoa!" I said. "Did you see that tech? That was amazing!"

"Is fluke," Brother muttered.

"No, that was genius!"

"Is no good," Father said.

I looked back to the field and saw the catcher throw the ball back in. "He didn't make the shot?! Come on!"

"See? Is fluke," Brother said. "He couldn't possibly have meant to make that shot."

"No, I think it goes to show that a bunch of flash don't mean nothing," Father said. "He had that shot carefully planned, but if it doesn't make the goal, it's all worthless." He gave Brother another look, and Brother looked down. What was going on?

"What is it you always like to say, Pop? 'Risk big, win big?'" Father only grumbled, so I decided to change the subject. "If only Wakka was still out here," I said. "If they played side by side, we'd have game in the bag." The more I thought about it, the more I thought that Wakka should be out here. He had enough time to rest. So I stood up. "HEY! BRING BACK WAKKA!" Some spectators stared at me, but soon others were applauding me, and they started chanting Wakka's name. Tidus suddenly stopped playing and stared all around him. Then, he started swimming out of the sphere. "HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? COME BACK!"

"I thought you want Wakka," Brother jeered.

"No, I want them to play side by side."

"Looks like you have to choose."

Moments later, Wakka swam back to the field. All the Aurochs' fans cheered, but I was upset because Tidus wasn't with him. Wakka made some great plays, but it was too little too late. The Aurochs couldn't catch up to the Goers.

"I can't believe it. After all that, we lost again."

Brother nodded sadly. "Always next year."

I thought, he was right. If Tidus kept getting better, he could be unstoppable. Maybe he'll pick up some more techs, and maybe he could play with Wakka. Then the Aurochs could finally have the victory they deserve.

Suddenly, we heard screams everywhere. I looked up and saw a great number of underwater fiends in the Blitzball sphere. Only Wakka and Tidus were in there. Tidus drew his sword, though it was a different sword than the one I saw. It was long and blue and glittery. He fought them rather easily. Wakka could also fight the fiends, using his Blitzball as a weapon. I had no idea he could fight like that. They got rid of them all. I breathed a sigh of relief, but people were still screaming. Now there were fiends in the stands!

"Where are all these fiends coming from?" I asked.

"I don't know, _tayn_," Father said. "Let's get out of here."

"Father, look!" Brother cried. He pointed to the opposite side of the stadium. I had to get out my oscillating eyeware to see clearly where he was pointing. It was a very tall man with dark hair. He wore a red cloak with a high collar that obscured his face. He held his left arm funny, as though it was broken. But in his right hand, he carried the biggest sword I had ever seen. "_CEN_ AURON!"

"That's Sir Auron?" I asked.

Father grabbed his oscillating eyeware and looked where Brother was pointing. "Looks kinda like him, but it's impossible. No one's seen him in ten years, not since Rin treated that wound."

"Perhaps he is fiend?" Brother suggested.

"Could be."

A couple of really tough fiends came toward Auron, but he struck them both with that huge sword. In a blink of an eye, the fiends were nothing more than pyreflies.

"Leaping chocobos, it is Auron!" Father yelled.

I don't know if anyone else in the stands saw him. I'm sure if they did, they would have felt encouraged. But I was terrified. In fact, I was more scared of him than I was of the fiends. Auron was known around Spira as the greatest guardian in history, the guardian of High Summoner Braska. But Father told Brother and me a story about Auron that no one else knew.

"Sister, do you see that?" Brother pointed again. Auron was now fighting a flying fiend, and fighting next to him were Tidus and Wakka. "They're on his side."

"No!" I cried. "It can't be!"

"Look out!" Father pointed to fiend heading toward us! I pulled out my targe and claw and prepared to fight. But then, Maester Seymour stood, lifted a summoning staff, and performed a summoning. An anchor fell out of the sky and pulled out of the ground a huge beast wrapped and chained. Whenever the beast opened its eyes and groaned, all the fiends disappeared, including the one that was about to attack us.

"Was that . . . an aeon?" I asked as I caught my breath.

"That's right," Brother answered.

I couldn't remember when I last saw an aeon. I think I saw one summoned when Sin was here before, but I was only five then. "So, Maester Seymour is a summoner?"

"Yeah, but he's not going on a pilgrimage," Father answered. "He told me so himself. Well, we better take this opportunity to make a break for it. Come on."

Again, on the way out, we met Maester Seymour. "Maester, thank you for taking care of the fiends," Father told him. "I was thinking we'd have to we destroy the stadium and all the fiends with it!"

The maester laughed. "Destroy the stadium? You always are so extreme, Cid." But then his face turned serious. "I have been meaning to ask you something. I've heard a rumor that during the first match, there was an incident involving Lady Yuna. It was my understanding that the Al Bhed were involved. Do you know anything about this?"

Father's face also turned stern. "I am neither confirming nor denying that."

Maester Seymour nodded coldly. "I see. Very well. I think I understand your intentions, Cid, but I have intentions of my own. If you must take her into your custody, I only ask that you do her no harm."

"Oh, I have no intention of doing that."

"That is good to hear. It would be helpful after you are done with her if you turned her over to me."

"I can make no promises."

"Oh." Maester Seymour only nodded. "So, that is where we stand."

"The only place I stand is in Lady Yuna's safety!"

"Well, I can assure you, Cid, I will keep her very safe."

"I don't believe that for a second. You'll still send her off after Sin."

"True, but we will go together."

"Why? You think that aeon of yours will defeat Sin? Like I was telling my son, a lot of flash don't mean nothing if it doesn't make the goal!"

Maester Seymour glanced at Brother for a moment, but then he looked back to Father. "Of course. Everyone knows that only the Final Aeon can defeat Sin. Anima is a very rare aeon, but it does not have the power of the Final Aeon because it does not represent the deep bond between the summoner and another. What I am saying is I am willing to be the Lord Zaon to Lady Yunalesca."

"NO DEAL! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Maester Seymour raised his eyebrows. Pop did not look apologetic at all. Both of his fists were clenched. I held Father's arm. "He didn't mean it, Maester. He's just under a lot of stress."

"It's quite alright, Miss Rikku," he replied with a nod. "Good day to you." He turned around and left.

Father started walking out quickly. Brother looked just about confused as I did. We were just doing our best to keep up. We finally caught up to him outside the stadium. "Father?" we both asked.

But Father turned around and looked at Brother. "Son, I believe it's about time you told me what happened."

Brother sighed and looked down. "She got away."

"THAT WAS THE ONE THING I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO! I TOLD YOU NOT TO LET HER GET AWAY!"

"I know, Father! I was doing my best, turning out all the machina I could!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Brother turned around. "Can't I tell her? Since it's already over?"

"I suppose," Father said.

Brother looked back at me. "Father wanted me to take Lady Yuna. I was working with the two reserves from the Psychs. They put out an ultimatum that they wouldn't return her unless the first team would forfeit the game."

"The first team? The Aurochs? Why would they make an ultimatum if they were playing the Aurochs?" I asked.

"Well, they thought they were playing the Goers first. I don't know where the mixup happened."

"Ultimatum or not, how could you let her get away?" Father yelled again.

"There were two things working against us. One–she's already well connected with her aeons. We defeated Valefor pretty easily, but then she called Ifrit, and he knocked both the reserve players out."

"Wait!" I said. "She's a summoner?"

"That's right."

I turned to Father. "Why didn't you want me to go, Father?"

"Because I knew you felt down, and I was sure the Blitzball game would cheer you up," he answered.

"Not as much as it would to keep a summoner safe!"

"Don't worry, _tayn,_ you will soon get your chance."

"It was actually better that you didn't come along, Sister," Brother said.

"Why do you say that?" I said angrily to him. "Do you think I'm not strong enough? Do you think I'm scared?"

"No. It's because of the other thing–her guardians. There were three that came after us, and they were very powerful. One of them was a Ronso. One of them was a black mage. And the other one was . . . the young man we found at Baaj."

I was shocked. "Tidus? He's a guardian now?" That was really hard to take. I was worried before that my negligence, leaving Tidus open to Sin, would kill him. This was actually worse. He was now my enemy.

I guess Brother felt a little bit of the same dilemma. He said to me alone as we were getting on the ship. "Don't tell Father, but there is something about Lady Yuna he didn't mention."

"What's that?"

Brother sighed. "She's beautiful. You should have seen her eyes, like two jewels! They are the prettiest non-Al Bhed eyes I've ever seen."

I laughed and punched his arm playfully. "So, you have a girlfriend!"

"Wait, I didn't say–"

"Well, that's all the more reason we gotta save her. Then, maybe you could ask her out!" I wonder how much Father did tell him about Yuna. If he knew all the details, he wouldn't be getting such ideas.


	3. My Mission

Chapter 3: My Mission

I tried not to think about the aftermath of the Luca tournament or about Maester Seymour or Sir Auron or any of that. I just went Home and waited. Mostly, I stayed out of my Father's way. He still hadn't cooled down since his last talk with the Maester. It was only going to get worse.

I heard Father in his office throwing things and screaming loud, angry phrases in Al Bhed. "The two-faced son of a Hyperbello!" he yelled. "That's the last time I do ANYTHING for that Guado!"

Of course, I didn't know exactly why Father was angry, but he had to be mad at the Maester. And I couldn't really understand why. They acted so friendly at the tournament, and it's certainly not everyday that a Yevon priest even talks to us. Maester Seymour seemed so congenial. How could he upset Father so?

I never felt like I got the straight story, but I heard some details from word of mouth. It had to do with the deal that Father made with the Maester. He agreed to send some Al Bhed with very destructive machina to Mushroom Rock. They would work with the Crusaders, who would capture Sinspawn to lure Sin to the precipice, where they would use the machina to kill Sin. Most of the men who volunteered to go were very anti-Yevon. The only condition that Father made to this agreement was that while it was taking place, the Crusaders would make sure that no one will be allowed to pass on the road on Mushroom Rock. Apparently, his reasoning was that this way the summoners can't make it to the temple of Yevon in Djose, and thus their pilgrimages would come to a standstill. Maester Seymour seemed to agree to these conditions. Yet, on the day of the operation, Maester Seymour ordered that Lady Yuna and her guardians would pass. He even took them up to the command center, where they assisted in the battle! Father must have suspected that the Maester did that particularly to spite him, deliberately putting Yuna in harm's way.

The operation turned out to be a spectacular failure. Sin did appear, and he disintegrated nearly everyone involved. Most of the Al Bhed and the Crusaders perished. Somehow, though, Maesters Seymour and Kinoc, Lady Yuna, and all of her guardians survived. Some say they survived because they were the only ones faithful to Yevon. I seriously doubted that.

The strangest rumor I heard, however, concerned Tidus. Brother told me about it after he heard from an Al Bhed who survived the operation. "Your friend is entirely _ehcyha!_ He is _vuum!"_

"Take that back! He's not insane! He's not a fool! He can't be blamed for the aftereffects of Sin's toxin!"

"Well, explain this. After Sin had attacked and had left great number of people dead or dying on beach, that _vuum_ not only stared gaping at Sin, he yelled at Sin and swam after it!"

"What? Why would he do that?"

"Because he's _eteud!_ He doesn't realize that Sin is dangerous! When is he going to get that through his tiny brain, that black circle?"

"He's not an idiot, and he doesn't have a tiny brain!"

"That might be what you think, Sister, but you can never deny that he's black circle!"

That talk just made me so mad, but it did make me think of that first time I met Tidus. I thought about how he stood and stared at Sin. If what Brother was saying is true, Tidus actually tried to speak to Sin. Some Al Bhed think that Sin is not what we think it is. They say it's not in Yevon's forgiving nature to send such a pestilence upon us for mistakes our ancestors have made a thousand years ago. A few of them even claim that Sin is a misunderstood creature that does not wish to destroy. I'm not really sure I agree with all these teachings, but they have made me wonder if Sin has feelings or intelligence. It made me wonder what Sin really is.

"Rikku," a voice said as I was pondering all this in my room. I looked up and saw my friend Keyakku. "Your father wants to see you for a minute."

"Alright. Thanks, Keyakku." I went down to Father's office. He was sitting down at his desk. He looked tired and sad, but at least he had calmed down. "You wanted to see me, Father?"

"Yes, _tayn._ Sit down, please." I sat in front of him. "There's something I need to tell you about Lady Yuna."

"Yes?"

Father sighed heavily. "She's the daughter of High Summoner Braska."

"So . . . she's . . ."

"That's right. She's your cousin."

We never talk about our relationship to Braska, even though he's known all throughout Spira. He married my father's sister, but even as Brother and I were children, Father forbade us to call him uncle. I only remembered seeing Braska once, and I didn't remember his wife or his daughter.

"Did you tell Brother?"

"No, I probably should have mentioned."

"Probably? Do you know he has a crush on her?" I instantly put my hands over my lips. I told Brother I wouldn't say that!

Father only sighed again and shook his head. "I probably should have expected that. At any rate, now you understand why I've been so upset about her welfare. I think you're too young to remember when her father was on the same pilgrimage."

"Yes, but you told me about it many times, and about his guardians when they came here to Home and Sir Auron–"

"Yes. I prefer not to rehash that memory now. I feel as though I failed Yuna then. I condemned her to live a life as an orphan. I'm not going to do it again! I am going to save her from a pointless death!"

"Of course! We have to!"

"And I'm putting her life in your hands."

"My hands? Father, do you know what you're asking?"

"Yes, Rikku. You're unlike many Al Bhed. You have a genuine concern for those in danger, whatever race they are. I think you can use that concern convince her to stop."

"But how? What should I do?" It was funny. Even though I always wanted this responsibility, now that I had it I didn't know what to do.

"I've already sent some of my most trustworthy men to gather every summoner who is on a pilgrimage and bring them back to the Summoner's Sanctum. You can wait in the Moonflow in underwater machina for Yuna and her guardians to cross in the Shoopuf on their way to Macalania Temple. I will pair you with your brother's friend, Buddy, to help you take her. You may have to deal with her guardians, and that will probably be difficult. According to our scouts, she has five guardians, which nearly everyone believes is an outlandish number for a pilgrimage. They have different strengths. One is a black mage. One is a Ronso. Then there's Sir Auron, Wakka, and your friend. I'll let you take the scouting reports. Study them to learn the guardians' weaknesses, but don't concern yourself so much with beating them. Just get them weak enough so that you can take Yuna and run. All I need for you to do is to keep her safe and bring her back here."

"I'll do my best, Father."

"That's not good enough. You have to promise me."

"I will keep Yuna safe. _E bnuseca."_ (I promise.)

"'_Kuut kenm._'" (Good girl.)

--

So, this is where my adventure officially began. A powerful underwater machina was already prepared, designed to take on all the guardians. Buddy and I got to our spot, and we waited. Finally, the Shoopuf crossed, and I could see through our periscope Wakka's brilliant red hair and Auron's red cloak. So, it had to be them. I told Buddy to get Yuna while I created a distraction. I set off a low level explosion, just enough to make some noise and scare the Shoopuf. Then I set up all systems to full power. Right when Buddy brought the summoner on board, I came up to her and gave her a hug. "Yunie, you're safe!" I didn't understand why I messed up her name. I thought in the moment that I was just in a hurry, and in my stress it came out wrong. I pulled back and finally got a good look at her. Brother was right about her eyes. In fact, she had the most awesome eyes I had ever seen! One was green, and the other was blue. How did she get eyes like that? Too bad they didn't spiral. He dress was very pretty as well, and her face looked very kind, even though she was terrified.

"W-w-what's going on?" she asked in a meek voice. "Who are you?"

"I am Rikku, the daughter of Cid. I'm your cousin, Yunie! I came all the way from the Al Bhed Home to find you, to make sure you are safe. Don't worry. You don't have to go to Zanarkand."

"But–"

Suddenly, an alarm started beeping. "Her guardians are coming!" Buddy called.

"All of them?"

"Just two. Pathetic, isn't it? We're not even getting a full-team battle!"

We didn't have time to complain. "Come on." I put Yuna in a glass dome, which had maximum protection. "This will all be over in just a minute."

"Rikku, I appreciate your intentions, but–"

"Sorry, Yunie, I can't talk now. You'll thank me later." I sealed the dome then went back to the control room. On the screen, I saw my two attackers—Wakka and Tidus. Great. They must have come because they have been trained to maneuver so well under the water. Well, I knew it would come to this sooner or later. I took the controls. "Sorry about this, guys." But Tidus cast Haste on himself and Wakka, and they both attacked me over and over. I raised the machina to more shallow depths and prepared for my greatest attack. Just my luck, right at that time, both of them got their Overdrives. Tidus circled around the contraption and hit repeatedly. Wakka spun his Blitzball on his finger, and it sparkled with lightning magic. No, not lightning! I hate lightning! He kicked it will all of his might.

Alarms blared. The machina shook violently. "She can't take much more of this!" Buddy yelled. "She's gonna blow!"

"Quick, get Yunie!"

"Yunie?"

"The Summoner!" I ran up to the glass sphere, but we were too late. The guardians were already swimming off with her. I was too stunned to move. Buddy was probably a lot smarter than I was and got to an escape pod, but as for me—

KABOOM!

--

I washed up on the beach on the opposite side of the Moonflow. I don't know how long I lied there. Every part of my body hurt, but what hurt most was the knowledge that I failed. I thought everybody else was probably already Home with their summoners, but I, the daughter of the Al Bhed leader with whom he entrusted the greatest job of all, will come Home empty-handed. My cousin will soon go to the Farplane, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then, I heard footsteps. A shadow covered me. "You're . . . not dead?"

No . . . Hey, wait a minute, he's right! I'm not dead! Just with that thought, I found the strength to pull myself up. I quickly got off the uncomfortable underwater gear; I didn't need it anymore. I had some of my favorite clothes on underneath. I took off my helmet and looked at my rescuer—Tidus! Oh, so now we're even. Glad that's taken care of. I smiled. "Ah. I thought I was done for back there."

Tidus gasped. "Rikku! You're Rikku! You're OK! How've you been?"

Seriously? How does he think I've been? "Terrible." I collapsed again.

"Yeah, you don't look so good," he said looking down at me. "What happened?"

As if he didn't know? I pointed at him. "YOU beat me up, remember?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean that machina? That was you?"

"Uh-huh," I replied rubbing my head. "That really hurt you—" (What's a good, non Al-Bhed word I could use that's not too offensive? I could only think of one.) "—big meanie!"

"Wait, but you attacked us!" he replied in a confused retort.

"Nuh-uh. It's not exactly what you think." Part of me thought maybe if I told him the truth, he would understand. Maybe he would be on my side. I started to open my mouth to explain when—

"Yo!" Yuna and all her summoners came to join us. It was just like how everyone said. There was Wakka in the lead with his flaming, red hair and his ear-to-ear smile. Next to him was a woman in a black dress with black hair, red eyes, and purple lips. And there was a Ronso, standing with his arms crossed. No one told me his horn was broken. He must be really sad inside. And, then there was Auron. It was the first time I saw him up close, and he looked even bigger. I saw he had a scar on one of his eyes. Wonder how he got that? I knew he was judging me, summing me up behind those shades.

"Friend of yours?" Wakka asked. Wow, I don't think I ever heard him talk before. I loved his accent! It had a warmth and friendliness that I always pictured him having. I tried so hard to hide my fangirl-ish glee.

"Uh, you could say that," Tidus said uncomfortably.

I smiled. "Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" It was a shame that was all I could manage, but at least I wasn't stuttering all over the place.

"Yuna, Lulu, I told you about her, remember? She was the one who helped me before I washed up on Besaid! She's an Al Bhe—beh . . ."

Uh oh. That stammer could only mean one thing. Someone in this group is an Al Bhed-hater. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. These guys are probably pretty staunch Yevonites after all. But who could it be? It's not Tidus, because he can't remember about the tensions between the races. And it's not Yuna, since she's related to us. Surely it can't be Wakka! He's played very comfortably with the Psychs. If he had hatred against the Al Bhed, that last game would have been so much uglier. I guessed it was possible that it was the Ronso. They're very territorial, after all, and Maester Kelk Ronso was a very conservative Yevonite. But my money was on Auron. After all Father said about him and what he had done, I would not be surprised at all that he despised the Al Bhed.

"Wow, so you, like, owe her your life?" Wakka said. "What luck meeting you here, yah? Praise be to Yevon!" He performed the ceremonial bow. I tried to suppress another fangirl giggle. I couldn't believe the athlete I admired most was blessing me. "So, uh, Rikku, you look a little beat up. You OK?" I was about to accuse him of being responsible for that too as he came closer to me, but then the woman in the black dress stopped him.

"Uh, Wakka," she said.

"Huh? What?"

Yuna came forward. "There's something we need to discuss."

"Oh, go ahead."

At this point, I felt most comfortable talking to Yuna alone since I was the only one I was certain was not an Al Bhed-hater. But she did not look like she was going to abandon the company of her guardians. So, I compromised. "Uh, girls only! Boys, please wait over there!"

"Right. Sorry, Wakka," the woman in the black dress said. Then, she and Yuna came closer to me.

"Lulu, this is my cousin," Yuna said softly. "She's Cid's daughter. She was one of the people who just, uh—"

"Oh," the lady nodded. Then she looked at me. "Why did you just do that?"

I gulped nervously. "I made a promise to my father that I'd keep her safe." Then, I went into a quick explanation of everything from my point of view. I guess the more I got into the story, the more comfortable I got because I was making all sorts of gestures and sometimes even using voices and purposefully switching to present tense to express my thoughts, you know my typical storytelling mode.

"She only wants what's best for me," Yuna said almost apologetically.

"Right," Lulu said, "what's best for you. Not what's best for all of Spira."

I sighed in frustration. Why couldn't they see my argument? Who cares if it's for all Spira? This whole pilgrimage is wrong!

"You know, Rikku, I know the best way that you can keep your promise to your father."

"What's that?"

Yuna smiled. "_Lusa fedr ic!_"

I smiled. "You speak Al Bhed?"

"Just a little, what I learned from my mother. But think about it. You can come with us and be one of my guardians. Then, you can protect me."

"But, but you have so many guardians already. And, well, to tell you the truth, this isn't really what I—"

"I would be so honored to have one of my kin fighting by my side, and I'm sure you'll have techniques and strategies that the others lack, like your knowledge of machina fiends." She looked at Lulu. "She'd really be an asset, wouldn't she?"

"Perhaps so," Lulu nodded. "But are you sure this is a smart idea? I mean, what about–?"

"Well, unless we draw attention to it, no one will notice."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"If anything happens . . . we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it. So, what do you say, Rikku? _Femm oui lusa?"_ (Will you come?)

I thought about it, really hard. This isn't what I needed at all! I don't want to be blamed for sending her down to Zanarkand just because I was going on the journey with her! On the other hand, the closer I got to her, the more I could try and persuade her to end the pilgrimage. Plus, it'll give me a chance to pick up some spheres and other loot. You know, I wonder why an Al Bhed never considered this before. I could be like a spy for them! I might be able to sabotage the pilgrimage from the inside out. I finally smiled and nodded. _"Oac!"_ (Yes.)

"Good," Yuna said.

"Thank you, Yunie, uh, I mean, Yuna."

"No, please, I like when you call me Yunie. It makes me smile." She laughed, as did Lulu a little. "Oh, but we probably must see if it's OK with Sir Auron."

Lulu nodded. "That would be a wise idea."

"Do we have to?" I said with disappointment.

"Yes," Lulu said sharply. "He will know if such an action is doomed to failure. He has that kind of wisdom."

"Uh, Yunie, don't you know what Auron did to—?"

"It doesn't matter. Yuna trusts Auron with her life. Oh, but one thing," and Lulu said in the strictest tone, "don't reveal your lineage to anyone!"

"Gotcha!" I replied with a nod. I knew what that was all about.

So, Yuna broke away from us and approached Auron. "Sir Auron," she said solemnly, "I would like Rikku to be my guardian."

I was hoping for just a yes or no response, but then he came closer to me. I knew the most distinguishing feature of an Al Bhed is the spiraling pupil, so to honor my promise to Lulu, I looked down at the ground. And I tried with all my might to hide my fear.

"Show me your face."

I was surprised at his voice, too. It was very quiet, almost a whisper, but it had power. It sounded very rough, which I expected, but it also sounded almost gentle, maybe even fatherly. "Hmm?" I asked.

"Look at me."

I knew I had to obey his command, or else. "Oh, OK." I slowly lifted my head, but I kept my eyes closed.

"Open your eyes."

Now, there was something about that tone that I didn't expect at all. It sounded a little playful, like we were playing a game of peek-a-boo. Maybe to sorta show I was playing back, I only opened one eye, and not all the way.

"As I thought."

So, he saw enough. I opened both my eyes. "No good?" That's it. I might as well pack my bags now.

But then, he looked straight at me. "Are you certain?"

I was still very creeped out by him, but for the first time, I couldn't help but like him, just a little. "A hundred percent!" I replied eagerly. "So, anyway, can I?"

"If Yuna wishes it," he conceded.

Yuna nodded. "Yes, I do."

Tidus suddenly hastily added, "Rikku's a good girl! She helped me—a bunch!" Everybody seemed to look anxiously at Wakka. I didn't understand why; he certainly wasn't calling the shots around here.

Wakka uncrossed his arms and smiled. "Well, I'm all for it! I say, 'The more, the merrier!'"

I broke into a huge smile. "Right-o! Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" I hopped around and said in the most playful manner, "Rikku, at your service!" I was still thinking in the depths of my heart, "What have I gotten myself into?" But mostly, I was just happy that I might be able to pull this mission off after all.


	4. Journey with Your Eyes Closed

Chapter 4: Journey with Your Eyes Closed

It didn't even take us fifteen minutes to get to Guadosalam, and I was already becoming close to everyone. I actually found one thing useful that no one else could do in battle. Whenever a treasure chest appeared, I could use my Steal ability to open it and get the sweet stuff inside. Then, I got to show off my mix Overdrive. I can never forget how amazed Wakka was seeing me do that. After all these years of my marveling at him, he's marveling at me! Isn't that incredible? I guess I was most surprised because it didn't seem all that special to me. I learned mechanical skills like that from putting together machina all the time. Most Al Bhed can do stuff like that.

But I think I got the greatest enjoyment out of watching everybody else fight. It seemed like everybody had their own style. Tidus was always good with the speedy enemies. Just one slice with his sword, and they were history. Wakka usually took down flying enemies with his Blitzball. Auron faced some of the most difficult fiends, just hewing them down with that mega-sword. The Ronso, whose name was Kimhari, stepped up when a fiend had a technique he could learn. Lulu always cut in the fiend was weak against a magical element. Yuna had some of the best white magic spells, and sometimes when a fiend was really, really difficult, she would summon and aeon. I hadn't seen an aeon since the Luca tournament, but she really had bonded with these amazing creatures in a way Maester Seymour had not displayed. She talked to them, petted them, and they responded by fighting very fiercely for her. Upon reaching our destination, I felt stronger and a lot more confident, though I wished that there was more that I could do.

I'd been to Guadosalam once before, and it was not a pleasant experience. Still, I liked the place. I remembered my childhood fascination that it was like a city inside a tree. Upon entering, we were greeted by an elderly Guado. "We have been expecting you, Lady Yuna. Welcome to Guadosalam. This way, milady, this way." He took her by the arm, but Wakka quickly pulled the Guado's arm away. "Oh, I beg your pardon. I am called Tromell Guado," the Guado said with a bow. "I am in direct service of our leader, the Great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna."

"Business with me?" Yuna asked. "Whatever could that be?"

"Please come inside the manor. All will be explained. Of course, your friends are also welcome."

An open invitation into the mansion with one of the greatest leaders in Spira? Who would pass something like that up? "Twist our arms, why don't ya?" I smirked. Then, it hit me. It was completely out of left field; I'm not sure where it came from, but I thought of another way I could be invaluable to the team. I turned back to Tidus. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Then, I showed him my knowledge of customizing equipment. I giggled. "What would you do without me?"

"Yeah, that's pretty cool!" Tidus answered. "Say, Rikku, is there anything you can do to customize this blade?" He held up that long, glittery blue sword. "It's my favorite. I mean, it's got this 'Strength +5' feature, and that's the highest I got, but it does have three open slots."

"Alrighty, I'll see what I can do. Let's see. How about I use it to raise your HP?"

"That sounds good."

"OK, I just need some Hi-Potions . . . and . . ." I shook them up, compressed them, and tried to slide them into one open slot on the hilt, but they wouldn't fit. I tried a few times, but it just wasn't working. "Huh. Guess it doesn't want to be customized."

"Well then, what are all these open slots for?"

"I've heard of a few, very special weapons that don't react to customization. You have to, like, do something, or get something, or go somewhere to fill them."

"Well, that really narrows it down."

"Sorry." I handed it back to him. "Come on, the others are probably waiting for us."

Tidus still lingered behind. I think he wanted to look around, talk to people, stock up on provisions, look for treasure, maybe even play Blitzball on the Save Sphere. I went ahead and entered the mansion. It was very fancy. I looked at all the portraits and just stood around the foyer. I never had been in a place like this before. It was a lot nicer than anywhere at Home. Yet for some reason, when Tidus approached me to inquire what I thought about being here, all I could say was, "I wonder what smells so nice?" Everybody else seemed so on edge. I couldn't understand why.

Tromell soon ushered us into the main hall. There was food everywhere! He left us to get Maester Seymour. I immediately proceeded to stuff my face. They had some of the most delicious fruit I've ever tasted. I was amazed at everyone else. They weren't even touching the food, just looking around very suspiciously. I overheard Wakka say to Tidus, "I get the feeling that he invited us for more than just dinner, yah?" What more could it be? They were all acting like he was some sort of bad guy. Oh, what little I knew!

Tromell came back in. "Truly, it is good to have guests again. Since Lord Jyscal passed away, these halls have been too quiet."

I only reacted with a flippant thought, something like, "Oh yeah, I heard about that!"

"The death of Lord Jyscal was a great loss for all of Spira," Yuna said with a ceremonial bow.

Tromell nodded. "Truly a loss for us all." Then he spoke in a more grandiose tone, "But now a new leader, Lord Seymour, has come before us! Lord Seymour is the child of a Guado and a human! He will be the tie that binds our two races together! But that is not all, I think. Lord Seymour, he will surely become the shining star that lights the way for all peoples in Spira!"

Well, that really sounded like pie-in-the-sky thinking. Who can really end the hatred between the Al Bhed and Yevonites that easily?

"That's enough, Tromell!" We looked to the front of the room. Maester Seymour had entered. "Must I always endure endless praise?" He made a ceremonial bow. "Welcome!" he said graciously.

"Hey, Maester Seymour!" I said waving. I didn't expect him to come in so suddenly, and I had already taken a huge bite of an apple. I was embarrassed, but I really wanted to greet him.

His gaze turned to me. "Miss Rikku! What a pleasant surprise to see you here! And what brings you to Guadosalam?"

"I'm Yuna's guardian now," I said, my mouth still full.

"Oh, is that so? Interesting. Does your father know?"

"Uh . . ." What could I say that wouldn't reveal myself?

Yuna came over and interrupted, thankfully. "Uh, you wanted to see me, sir?"

But Maester Seymour seemed annoyed at the interruption. "Please, make yourself at home. There's no rush."

Auron then approached him and said coldly, "Please keep this short. Yuna MUST rush!"

The maester bowed at him. "Pardon me. It's been a long time since I had guests. Lady Yuna, this way." He led her to the middle of the room, and we followed. Then, he pulled a long chain hanging from the ceiling. The lights all went off, and then stars appeared all around us. It felt so real, and the way they moved around, it felt like I was flying. Then, the stars were hidden with tall buildings with brilliant, colorful lights racing all around us. I've never seen anything like it! Looking around at everyone, it didn't seem like they did either, except for Auron. "This sphere is a reconstruction created by the thoughts of the dead that wonder the Farplane," Maester Seymour explained. So, that's why this felt so real! It was like we were inside a gigantic movie sphere! But how could he do that? If the pyreflies in the Farplane only react to one's memories, how could he take memories of those already passed away? It's a mystery I've never really solved.

The scene changed. Suddenly, we were in a large city filled with people walking by us, even through us. I've never seen a city this big, not even Bevelle! What could it be? Did such a place even exist?

But Tidus recognized it right away. "Zanarkand!"

Maester Seymour seemed somewhat surprised, but he replied, "Correct, Zanarkand as it looked a thousand years ago."

I was amazed that he got it exactly right. How could he have known? Then I thought back to when I first met him, when he claimed to be from Zanarkand, a Blitzball player from Zanarkand no less! For the first time, I wondered if he might be telling the truth, but how could it be possible? Could I be crazy?

"The great and wondrous machina city Zanarkand," Seymour mused. That may have been the first time I noticed. This is what machina looks like when we use it with no restraints! But it's beautiful! Why does Yevon say it's so bad? Hey, Maester Seymour is a priest of Yevon; is he trying to make a point, maybe a contradiction in the teachings?

No such luck. He said very quietly to Yuna, "She once lived in this metropolis."

Yuna looked up at him. "She, who?"

The maester smiled mysteriously. The scene slowly faded. We then saw a new vision of a woman, very slender with wild, long hair. She was sitting on a fancy bed with a canopy. I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before, but I didn't know where. Yuna recognized her, though. "Lady Yunalesca!"

Maester Seymour nodded. "She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages." He looked admiringly at Yuna. "And you have inherited her name."

Yuna blushed. "It was my father who named me."

"Lord Braska entrusted you with a great task. He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat Sin, it took an unbreakable bond of love, the kind that binds two hearts for eternity." At these words, a man who looked like a king came into the room, walked through Yuna, and embraced Lady Yunalesca. It was then I remembered what Maester Seymour told Father, "What I am saying is, I am willing to be the Lord Zaon to Lady Yunalesca." I started to understand why it made Father so upset. I thought I knew what Seymour wanted with Yunie.

The scene started to fade away, and we were standing in the great hall at Guadosalam again. Seymour stood with Yuna alone. He knelt down and whispered something in her ear. Yuna gasped and backed away. She went back over to the food table and gulped down a glass of water. I went straight over to her. "Wow! Your face is beet red!"

"You OK?" Tidus asked.

She raised her flushed face to all of us. "He . . . he asked me to marry him!"

We all had different ways of expressing our surprise and shock. No one seemed more upset than Tidus. I almost wanted to tell her, "Do it! He's a great catch!" But I knew it would be entirely inappropriate. I really, really wanted it to happen, though. I knew that Maester Seymour would take very good care of Yunie. More importantly, though, I knew it would bring the pilgrimage to a screeching halt.

Others didn't agree, though. Auron approached Seymour. "You know what Yuna must do."

"Of course," the maester answered. "Lady Yuna–no, all summoners–are charged with bringing peace to Spira." (I had to squeeze my fist at that thought. Yes, they bring peace to Spira, but at what cost?) "But that means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the sufferings of Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a maester of Yevon."

But Auron's tone did not change. "Spira is no playhouse. A moment's diversion may amuse an audience, but it changes nothing!" (He reminded me of my Father's words, about how a bunch of flash is worthless if it doesn't achieve the goal. I think that's when those words first hit me.)

"Even so," the maester answered, just as stubborn, "the actors must play their parts." He looked at Yuna. "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over."

"We will do so, then," Auron answered. "We leave."

"Lady Yuna," the maester spoke up, "I await your favorable reply."

"Wow," I thought, "he's got high expectations." Yuna walked out of the room quickly, and who can blame her? Before we left though, the maester passed Auron

"Why are you still here, sir?" he asked slyly. The question caught my attention. Was he accusing Auron of being rude, of overstaying his welcome? Auron did not answer. "I beg your pardon," Seymour said. "We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane." With that, he exited the room. Tidus then approached Auron and sniffed around him, but Auron just pushed him out of the way. I'm glad Tidus did it because I was tempted to do the same. I wasn't even aware the Farplane had a smell. Did Auron just come from there to see something? He couldn't have meant . . . well, I couldn't stand here alone in the hall pondering this. I ran and joined the rest of the guardians.

Everybody was talking about Seymour's proposal. Lulu was mulling over the positive aspects of such a union, but Wakka was more pessimistic, like Auron. Tidus just wanted Yuna to get on with the pilgrimage and forget about marriage. I teased him and called him jealous, but really only one thought was on my mind. The more Yuna considered the idea as favorable, the more I thought I had a chance. I knelt down to her and put in my two gils.

"Maester Seymour is real nice. I'm sure he'll treat you right."

"Oh yeah, how do you know Seymour?" Tidus sneered.

"I met him at the Luca tournament. He's friends with my father."

"Wow, your father must be a head honcho, huh?" Wakka said.

"Uh, you could say that."

"Anybody we know? Another maester maybe?"

I didn't know how to reply without telling him with who Father is, so I just turned back to Yuna. "You can always just quit your pilgrimage and get married."

But Yuna shook her head. "I will go on. I'm sure that Lord Seymour would understand."

"Um, I guess so," I said with a nod. How could he understand? How did my aunt understand? What kind of marriage is begun, knowing that it will soon end?

But Yuna's mind was firm. "I am a summoner. I must fight and defeat Sin."

"Like Braska before you," Auron added.

She stood. "I am going to the Farplane. I am going to see my father and think on this."

"Go on," Lulu said. "We're right behind you."

"No!" my mind thought firmly. I did not want to see the Farplane again! I still remember that was the visit to Guadosalam that didn't go well. I visited there as a child to see my mother after she died. I was so excited going there because I was going to see her again. But once I understood that she was just a projection of my memories and she couldn't talk to me or interact with me, I couldn't stop crying! I ran out of the Farplane bawling like a baby. To make matters worse, we had to cross the Thunder Plains to get home. I couldn't sleep for several nights. OK, I have matured a bit since then. I understood more about the Farplane, but I still didn't want to go. Whichever one of them hated Al Bhed may see my mother and recognize her heritage.

So, I kinda lingered behind, thinking about what I was going to say about not wanting to go. I saw that Tidus was really curious about what this was he was going to see. He was asking a bunch of crazy questions to the others. Then, I noticed that I wasn't the only one staying behind. I saw Tidus talking to him at the base of the stairs to the Farplane.

"Searching for the past to find the future—that is all that is there. I need it not." It was Auron who spoke those words.

I came up to Tidus. "You're not really going to see the dead, more like your memories of them," I explained. "People think of their relatives, and the pyreflies react to them. They take on the form of a dead person–an illusion, nothing else." I guess I said those words to ease his confusion but maybe also to keep him from experiencing any nasty surprises, like what I saw on the Farplane. Tidus seemed to be thinking about what I said. "Well, have fun!" I said cheerfully.

"Wait, you're not going either, Rikku?" he asked.

This is where I start my mentally rehearsed speech. "I keep my memories inside."

"Huh?"

"Memories are nice, but that's all they are." Tidus looked at us with extreme confusion, and then he ran to the top of the stairs with everyone else.

So, I'm not alone. But why did it have to be Auron? I really didn't want to be alone with him! I pulled out a red, rubber ball and tried bouncing it around. I told myself, "Just play with the toy, don't make eye contact with him, and I'll be fine. If I don't pay attention to him, maybe he won't talk to me."

"You lied."

Great, he's talking to me. Worse, he's accusing me. Well, Father taught me that whenever anyone questions my character, I have to answer for myself.

"Excuse me?"

"That's not the reason why you don't want to go up to the Farplane."

"How do you know? You don't know me."

"I know you well enough." He stood and looked down at me. "You don't want to go to the Farplane because you're ashamed of who you are."

What kind of accusation is this? "That's not true!" I found myself yelling at him. "I'm very proud of who I am! I am proud of my family!"

"Then why don't you show it?" He didn't raise his voice, but it felt like he was screaming at me. He sat back down. "You can't walk this whole pilgrimage with your eyes closed. It will not be long before everyone knows."

"But Lulu told me I can't tell anyone. I think, well she implied, that someone in this group hates the Al Bhed."

"They need to grow. All of them. As do you. The truth is the whole purpose of this journey is to grow. And I don't just mean in sphere level, but in character."

"All of them?" That surprised me, because most of them seem so much more mature than me. "Even Kimhari?"

"Yes, even Kimhari."

"And Lulu?"

"Lulu must grow, too."

"What about you, Sir Auron? Do you need to grow?"

He paused and looked away. "I've done all the growing I'm allowed."

That was a strange answer. I thought about it for a little while, and I figured what he meant was he'd done this pilgrimage all the way through before. He knows all its secrets, so nothing could surprise him. But if he knew what this journey really meant, how could he go through it again? Worse, how could he send Yuna and five other people through this nightmare?

"I believe you and I both know that you don't really want to be Yuna's guardian."

How did he get in my head like that? Well, I had to fight this one off, too. "Not true either! That is all I want! I made a promise to my father that I would keep Yunie safe, and that's what I intend to do!"

"And what does her safety mean to you, Rikku?"

I took a deep breath. He knows. He really knows. I couldn't say it. I didn't want to say it. And since I knew that he knew, I didn't say it. I went back to playing with my ball. Fortunately, Auron didn't say anything else.

A few Guado passed us wanting to see their loved ones on the Farplane. A few minutes later, Yuna and the others came down. Yuna announced that she made her decision and was ready to speak to Seymour. She didn't say what her decision was, though. I was about to ask when we heard a scream.

"Lord Jyscal!" a Guado cried.

At the top of the stairs, a ghostly figure appeared, reaching beyond the Farplane. I have never seen something like that happen. I've never even heard of something like that happening! How could it be possible?

"He does not belong here!" Auron said urgently. "Send him"

Yuna ran back to the top of the stairs. Some followed her, but I didn't, and neither did Auron. I was watching her from a distance since I hadn't seen her perform a sending. But something distracted me. As she began to dance, Auron groaned. He clutched his stomach. I was about to ask him if he had a tummy ache from the Guado food when I saw something strange. I could have sworn I saw pyreflies escape from his cloak. I didn't know what it meant. I tried to tell myself, "There are pyreflies everywhere! Maybe some just settled on Auron, and when he got sick they flew away." But I knew pyreflies don't act that way.

When the sending was over, Auron stood upright. "Talk later! We leave now!"

As we exited, we all were discussing how Jyscal could have appeared like that. Lulu came up with an interesting theory, "Something, a powerful emotion could have bound him to this world. Such things happen."

"That's against the rules, isn't it?" I asked.

"It means he died an unclean death," Auron said coldly.

I really made the comment to try to understand what happened with Auron, because I'll never know Lord Jyscal, but Auron was very real to me. I thought about what Seymour said, "We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane." Could he have bent the rules? Could he be . . . but how could he be? Father told me when Mother died that when people go to the Farplane, they can never come back. I didn't understand it. It was a very long time before I even began to understand it. And since I didn't understand it, I turned my mind to something else. It wasn't Yunie's proposal, either. Yunie went into the mansion, and everybody else was just standing outside. I saw Tidus talking to Rikku, and it sounded like they were discussing Yunie's marriage. I sat down on a high overlook and started to mentally prepare myself for the next step.

"Hey, Rikku!" I heard Tidus's voice. "I've been looking for you." He pulled out that blue, sparkly sword, but now it was surrounded by bubbles. "Check it out."

"It's got Waterstike," I said looking at the hilt.

"Yeah, it was weird. When I was on the Farplane, I saw Wakka talking to his brother Chappu. Wakka mentioned this sword. You see, he made it for Chappu, but Chappu never used it. And after Wakka talked about it, I felt it change. And look, all the slots are filled!"

"Yeah, that's kinda cool." I hastily handed it back to him.

He looked at me with concern. "Are you ok?"

"When we leave here, we have to go through the Thunder Plains next, you know? I can't stand thunder! I'm trying to get, you know, prepared."

"Oh. OK. I'll leave you alone." He walked back down, but then he turned back to me. "How do you think that happened? What about pyreflies does this?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I learned today that there's a lot about the Farplane that I don't understand. I gotta do a lot more growing, and I gotta do it with my eyes open."

"Huh?"

"Auron and I did some talking."

"Oh. He can do that to ya." He grinned, and then he left me alone. Yeah, he can do that do ya. In fact, he did it a lot during this trip. Talking to Auron was probably one of the most important things I did, especially because he was right. I needed to grow, and he was going to help me.


	5. Dra Suna Drehkc Lryhka

Chapter 5: _Dra Suna Drehkc Lryhka_

I thought what was going to happen was that after Yuna gave Maester Seymour her reply, no matter what it was, he would still show us his gracious hospitality by giving us a place to sleep in his mansion, then give us all a big breakfast and send us on our way. Then we could deal with the Thunder Plains in the morning, and hopefully the storm won't be as bad in the morning. But that's not what happened. Yunie was in the mansion for hours. Tidus wandered around trying to find out what was going on, and he learned that Seymour had already left for Macalania Temple. So, we had to leave right away to catch up with him. That was terrible because I was not ready at all.

As soon as we walked out of the tunnel, we saw the plains. "Oh no, we're here!" I whimpered. They looked as bad as ever. The others discussed how to cross, but I was too frightened of the loud thunder to hear. After one particularly loud thunderclap, I cringed. "I, er, think I left something in Guadosalam!" I lied while trying to look as brave and innocent as possible.

"Hmmph," Auron said. "Nice knowing you." Nothing gets past that guy!

"OK, OK, I'll go," I whined. I took a few deep breaths, clenched my fists a few times. I thought I felt a little calmer, but as another thunderbolt struck close by, my fear escalated again. I just tried to tell myself that it would be over soon. Rin's shop is nearby, and I could have a chance to take a break. If we stay close to the towers, maybe we won't get hit at all.

Tidus learned a way to dodge lightning bolts, which helped a little. But sometimes, particularly after we just finished battling fiends, he forgot to be on his guard, and we got hit! Ouch! We didn't stay as close to the towers as I hoped, because Tidus wanted to look around for treasure. They invited me into battles a few times. That's when I really realized how weak I was, because I kept getting knocked out! That really didn't help things.

I guess there was only one time I really forgot my fear. Tidus grabbed a treasure chest, and he saw next to it a strange, glowing stone with a picture of a fiend engraved on it. "What's that?" he asked.

I'd seen that fiend around Home, though I couldn't understand what stones like this were doing in the Thunder Plains. "It's a Qactuar. They're usually in deserts. They have very little HP, but their defense and speed marks are crazy high! They usually run away before you get a chance to kill them, but if you can kill them, they drop some pretty rare treasures."

"Sounds kinda wimpy, yah?" Wakka said.

"Oh no. They got this one attack, 10,000 Needles, where they shoot our all their thorns, and it can knock you out in one blow. They seem like the underdogs of fiends, but you don't want to underestimate the Qactuars." I looked at Wakka with a smile. "They're kinda like the Besaid Aurochs."

"Oh?!" Wakka looked at me with an expression of surprise and pleasure to see that he had a fan.

Another clap of thunder interrupted the moment, though. "So, why would someone erect a monument to a fiend?" Tidus asked. "And why is it glowing like this?"

"Maybe it was unsent," Yuna suggested.

"Can you send a fiend? Do they go to the Farplane?"

Yuna shrugged. "Maybe, sometimes."

"I guess we might as well honor its memory, since somebody went through the trouble of making this tombstone." Tidus stepped back and did the ceremonial bow of the Yevon prayer. It surprised me because I've never seen him do that before. The glow slowly disappeared from the stone, and the image of the Qactuar flashed. Just then, lighting struck at us, but Tidus dodged it right on time. I didn't know exactly what the prayer did, if anything, but we saw a lot more Qactuar fiends on the Thunder Plains after that. They were some of the very few fiends that weren't associated with lightning magic. Sometimes, Auron threatened them and then we struck them while they were frozen, but really the only attack that had any success was getting Yuna to call her aeons.

The Qactuars gave me something to talk about since I had some knowledge and experience about them, but they also made me think, for the first time on this trip, about Home. I wondered how Father and Brother were doing. Then I realized that I hadn't contacted them! I didn't tell them yet what I was doing! Father maybe upset. Worse–if any Al Bhed saw me in Yunie's company, they may think I betrayed them. I might be thrown out of the Home! So now, I wasn't only scared, I was worried.

When a lightning bolt struck close on a tower, I started to cope by chuckling nervously. I was doing it to myself, but then everybody heard me. Tidus imitated my laugh, and then said angrily, "You're giving me the creeps!"

Another lightning bolt struck. I got down on the ground and hugged Tidus's foot. "I wanna go Home! I hate lightning! I hate thunder!" I guess I was begging to him because I thought he'd understand. Then, I looked up, and I saw that we finally made it to Rin's shop. "Let's rest over there, pretty please?"

"This storm never stops," Auron replied. "Better to cross quickly."

"I know, but just for a minute!" They just didn't understand. I wanted so badly to tell them! Not only did I need shelter, I needed to talk to Rin! I stood. Everybody else, though, was moving on. "Pretty please? Just for a few minutes" I continued to beg. I hated looking this childish; I was 15 for crying out loud! But I knew if I played on their sympathies, they might hear me out. No luck; they kept moving.

Only Tidus stayed with me. He looked like he wanted to go in. Finally, he spoke up, though very nervously. "Guys, maybe we should stop here."

But they went on. "I'm scared of lightning! Let's rest, please? Pretty please?" I yelled at them.

"We're running low on Hi-Potions, you know," Tidus said. "And we're almost out of Phoenix Downs. We got no Ethers, so we can't always rely on Yuna's magic."

"We can get those things when they drop from fiends," Lulu called back.

So, they kept going on. "You just want me to keep getting zapped by those lightning fiends? I'm too young to die!" I yelled.

"I'd . . . kinda like to look at the weapon selection they got here," Tidus called. "Maybe they got something to protect us from lightning magic."

"We've already seen Shelinda and Maechen here. O'aka can't be too far away, yah?" Wakka called back.

So they continued to move. "You're mean, cruel! Your moms will be ashamed of you! Are you having fun doing this to me?" I yelled.

"Our HP is kinda down, too," Tidus called. "I know mine is. Wakka, you're looking kinda sluggish. Let's call a time out and discuss our next strategy over the Save Sphere, right?"

Yuna suddenly ran to Auron and whispered something in his ear. "Fine, we'll stop," he said in an annoyed tone. As he came to the door, I heard him mutter, "She's worse than the storm." Wow, that was mean.

Once inside, we heard another thunder crash. I cowered by the door and prayed to Yevon that he would give us a miracle and let the sun come out on the Thunder Plains. I thought a rainbow would be nice too, but I decided not to push it.

Yuna went to the receptionist, who I noticed wasn't Rin. "I'm a little tired. Do you have a room available?" I heard the other guardians, noticing that such behavior was unusual. It didn't really process in my mind (because my mind was too busy panicking), but I did think it was weird, too. If she was really concerned about HP, why pay for a room? Why not just touch the Save Sphere?

"Hey, Rikku," I heard Tidus say. He touched my arm, and I jumped. "Sorry. I just found this book that explained those stones with the Qactuars. It sounds like a bunch of people kept getting hit by their 10,000 Needles attack, and with the never-ending thunderstorm, it was too much for them to bear. So, this one guy froze the Qactuars in stones, and whoever honored their memories through a prayer sets them free. Guess it was a bad idea for me to practice the Yevon prayer at that stone, huh?"

"Yeah, that's nice," I muttered. Another thunderclap, and I cringed again.

"Are you really that scared?" Tidus asked.

I nodded, and I told him all about when Brother accidently hit me with a lightning spell and traumatized me. Lulu tried to calm me by talking about how lightning magic was useful, especially against water fiends. She was right, of course (and I'm glad she didn't mention that it also weakens machina), but it didn't change the fact that lighting still hurts, and thunder is so loud! There was another boom from the heavens, and I cringed again.

Just then, Rin came in from the hallway, and that made me feel better. Rin gets along with everybody. Father always said there was not an Al Bhed who didn't like Rin. Though sometimes a lot of people criticize him for working with outsiders and actually trying to teach them our language! He wrote the primers, but he compromised and made them a little difficult to get your hands on. And he always reserves some of his profits for charities, like for machina research or to help treat sick Al Bhed children. "Nice to see you again. Welcome to Rin's Travel Agency!" he announced to everyone. Then, he saw me. "Oh!"

"Shh!" I hissed at him. If he recognized me, he might give away that I'm an Al Bhed. He nodded silently.

Tidus approached him, and Rin talked to him about Tidus's progress in learning the language. I didn't know he was interested in learning it! If I could only be open about my heritage, I could tutor him. Maybe we could find a way to do it secretly. Then, Rin started talking to Auron as though Auron were his old friend. That's right, Father said Rin knew Auron! I just didn't realize they knew each other that well.

The thunder boomed again, and I squealed and shivered and even started rocking in fear. Rin chuckled and shook his head. _"Dra suna drehkc lryhka, dra suna drao cdyo dra cysa,"_ he muttered. That's an Al Bhed proverb which means, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." People usually say it to imply that no matter what happens in the way of tolerance, the Al Bhed will always be hated. Some say this when they're talking about the nature of Sin, that it'll always come back no matter what, despite what the Yevonites say about atonement. I think this time, Rin just said it because he knew of my fear of lightning and was marveling that I was still afraid even though I was a lot older. I'm glad he said it in Al Bhed, because I found it a little embarrassing and I didn't want the others to hear. "Uh, young lady," he said addressing me, "I have something in my storeroom that I believe will help you. If you will just come back here."

"OK," I said nervously and followed him to the back.

"Hey Rikku, be careful!" Wakka called to me as I was leaving the room.

"Um, sure," I replied. What was that all about?

We passed by Yunie's room, and I thought I heard voices coming from there. I didn't have time to stop and check it out, though. Rin opened the door for the room in the very back and let me come in. He spoke to me quietly in Al Bhed. "Many people come through the Thunder Plains as scared of the lightning as you. That is why I make sure I stock up on armor that has special protection." He pulled out of a box a small shield colored yellow. "This targe will lessen the sting of lightning attacks. Since you are Cid's daughter, I will let you have it free of charge."

"Oh, that's very generous of you! _Dryhg oui_!" (Thank you.)

"_Oui yna famlusa_," (You are welcome), he replied.

"But is there any armor that can make the lightning not hurt at all, or maybe absorb it?"

"Such armor does exist, but they are much rarer. If I sold them, they'd be very expensive. This should at least ease your mind." I started to put it on. "Now, tell me about this company you are traveling with? I have met them before, and they seem like very good people. Why are you afraid of them learning of your heritage?"

"I was warned not to tell. Some of them know. A lot of them are tolerant, but it sounds like at least one of them isn't. I don't know who yet. Uh, Mr. Rin, can you tell me all you know about _Cen_ Auron?"

"Ah, Auron. I have met him many times when he was traveling with Braska. He is a very kind man. I know he doesn't show it, but he is." Rin laughed. "He even has a sense of humor. It very rarely manifests itself, though. And he always tipped well. He's very shrewd, though. I remember how he used to spend hours pondering my wares, wanting only the best, and when he found something he wanted, he'd haggle me for it. And he's wise. I've heard him say many things to Jecht and Braska that surprised me. I'm very proud to call him my friend, and I hope you are too."

"Well, uh, actually, Mr. Rin, um, have you heard what he did to Father?"

To my surprise, Rin laughed. "You know your father. He loves to exaggerate! I've heard many rumors, but I'm sure it was not as serious as he may say. You are very lucky to have him on your side."

_"Dryhg oui,"_ I said again, this time not as enthusiastically.

"I am going Home in a couple of days to pick up some more supplies. Do you want me to pass along a message to your father?"

"_Oac_," I nodded. "Tell him, Yuna is safe. I am making sure that Yuna is safe. I am keeping my promise, but I am not sure when we'll come Home."

"You think you'll make it to Zanarkand first?"

I couldn't believe he said that! "Mr. Rin, how could you? You support the pilgrimage?"

Rin smiled. "'_So tayn,_'" (My dear) "I support anyone who supports me."

He opened the door, and I walked out confused. Is that why he is so well-liked by everyone, he just plays on both sides of the fence? As we passed by Yuna's room, I saw the door open, and Wakka was in there with Tidus in his headlock! That didn't make much sense to me either. As I got back into the lobby, another thunder crash sounded. I got back to my cowering spot. I saw Yuna standing alone, and she looked more tired than she did when she got her room.

Wakka came over to comfort me this time. "Hey. You feeling any better?"

"A bit, I guess."

"So, uh, what did he want with you?"

"Oh, he just wanted to show me this new targe. It has protection against lightning spells."

Wakka took a good look at it. "Oooh, nice! So, how much did it cost?"

"Oh, he gave it to me for free!"

"For free? Wow! Why'd he do that?"

"Uh, I guess he kinda pitied me when he saw how scared I am. And he knows my father."

"Man, your father knows everybody, huh?"

We both laughed. "I think it's Mr. Rin who knows everybody!" I laughed, but Wakka didn't. I guess he didn't get the joke. "So, how come you and Tidus were fighting in Yunie's room?"

"Ah, Tidus was worried about Yuna, so he bust into her room. Didn't even knock. I wanted to show him how rude it was." Wakka sighed. "Guess I was being hypocritical, 'cause I was going back there to check on you."

"On me?"

"Yeah, I was worried about you. You were back there a long time. It bothered me that you were going back there with that guy. I didn't trust him."

"Mr. Rin? Why?"

He shrugged. "Ah, you know. He just didn't seem very honest to me. But I guess I was wrong, if he gave you that shield for free, no strings attached."

I nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry. I've heard from all sorts of people that he's like the most honest man in Spira."

"Really? OK." He walked away. I didn't understand why, but I don't think he believed me.

Tidus came to me. "If you don't mind, we're all kinda ready to go."

"It's not stopping, is it?" I asked.

"Don't tell me you were hoping it would," Auron said in that same, cold tone. We heard another crash of thunder, and I cowered. "Fine. Stay here," and he walked out the door.

I looked out at him. Why does he have to be so cold? If Rin said he was really nice, why doesn't he show it? I looked out the door and yelled at him, "Alright, already, but you didn't have to say it like that, you know? You could be more comforting or something! You know, try to cheer me up?" But I heard nothing from him. I started to get angry, thinking maybe he wasn't answering because of his prejudice against the Al Bhed. Maybe Rin didn't see it, or maybe he did and ignored it. He's probably has learned to do that by now. "You just don't get me at all, do you?" Again, he was silent. "Hey, are you listening?" Thunder shook the building again. I clutched onto my new targe. "I'M NOT SCARED! I'M NOT SCARED, YOU HEAR?" I ran past the threshold.

The second I was outside, I felt something grab my wrist so hard it hurt. Auron pulled me away from the shop and out into the rain. "Listen, little girl," he said in the harshest tone I've ever heard him speak. "If you ever hope to be a successful guardian, if you ever hope to grow, you must learn to open your eyes and face your fears." Then he leaned forward and looked at me so closely that I could see his eyes behinds his shades and see his lips move behind his collar as he said very slowly and very softly, "All of them."

Lightning flashed all around him. How did he know? I just nodded and answered, "Yes sir."

He let go of my hand and pushed me over toward the rest of the group. "Let's go," he said to all of us. So, we followed.

The storm never got any better, and neither did the fiends. My new targe did make things easier, though. I was at least able to keep on my feet whenever I was called into battle. Whenever I was hit by lightning, it still hurt, but it felt more manageable, and it went away after a quick gulp of a potion. I was still very anxious to make it to the other side.

"Everyone, wait," Yuna suddenly said.

"What's up?" Wakka asked.

"I have something to tell you."

"Here?" Lulu asked.

"We're almost out of here! Let's go!" I whined. I really didn't see anything that couldn't wait like five minutes, not out here where we were exposed.

"I have to say it now," Yuna answered.

Auron nodded toward a pagoda for shelter. That was good. Maybe he did have some concern for me after all. When we all got under it and dry, though, there were a few seconds of silence. I thought Yuna said this news couldn't wait! What's going on? Then, she took a deep breath and said it.

"I've decided to marry."

Yes! Great news! Pop will be glad to hear that. Maester Seymour will be bound to keep her safe.

"Wait, what made you change your mind?" Wakka asked.

"For Spira's future, and Yevon's unity," Yuna answered. It was then I noticed how sad she was. She said the words, but she didn't believe them. And I realized this was just as bad as the pilgrimage. In fact, this might be worse. She'd be sacrificing her whole life to a marriage she doesn't want, to unhappiness and misery, just so Spira could be happy. "I thought it would be the best thing to do."

"That's not good enough!" Auron said. He took the words right out of my mouth.

"Wait," Lulu said. "Is it, is it because of Lord Jyscal?"

"Hey, that sphere!" Tidus said.

"Sphere?" I thought. "What sphere?"

It seemed to be news to Auron, too. "Show me," he demanded.

"I can't," Yuna answered. "I must speak to Maester Seymour first. I am truly sorry, but . . . this is a personal matter."

I really hurt for Yunie. I could just feel her pain, and it made me want to cry. I couldn't understand why nobody else felt that way. They all just seemed so confused.

"Just one thing," Auron said.

Yuna shook her head and said very quickly, "I won't quit my pilgrimage."

"Then it is . . . fine," Auron nodded. Any other day, and I would have argued with him, but I didn't even care anymore about the pilgrimage. I just wanted her to be happy again, to make those beautiful eyes of hers shine.

I watched as Tidus argued with Auron and Yuna and getting nowhere with both of them, and I just waited until they were done. Then, I approached my cousin and held her shoulders. "Yunie," I started, but then there was a loud thunder clap. "QUIET!" I yelled. I was surprised for a moment. That was the first time I yelled at thunder, and it felt good. I felt a little proud of myself. But then I turned back to her and said, "I wish we could help somehow, someway."

And she smiled at me and held my hand. "It's ok. I'll be fine." That made me feel better, too. I don't know why. I knew she was lying. Maybe it was because she understood that I cared for her.

We still had a little while to go before we cleared the Thunder Plains, but I remember what it was like. I was still hunkered over, still anxious. But then, there was a feeling of serenity that surrounded me. I stood up straight and looked around. I was in a beautiful forest filled with rainbow crystals. This must have been Macalania Woods. I hadn't got a chance to look at this place closely. When I visited Guadosalam last time, we took the road to Bevelle, just past the Macalania Woods. I remember the little bit I saw as a little girl filled me with wonder. Maybe I felt like a little girl again because I was skipping and hopping all over the place. I teased Auron and Tidus for bringing up the rear. "Slowpokes!" I called at them.

Not much happened when we were going through the wood. We fought some fiends on the way. I got into some battles and did well. I was getting stronger. While we were about halfway through the wood, a big man ran toward us, and he looked panicked. "Hey!" he called. "Y-you, have you seen Dona?"

"Dona?" Tidus repeated. "Can't say that I have." I wondered who Dona is, and who this guy is.

"What's up?" Wakka asked.

"We got separated on the way here," he said. He started throwing a fit. That's when I begin to wonder about the situation. Was he a guardian? I wasn't sure.

"Calm down," Auron said to him firmly.

"But-but if anything happens to her–"

"Running around in a panic is not going to help. Right now, you have to keep cool and search." He looked at the man in almost the same way that he looked at me on the Thunder Plains. "Guard your emotions, then guard your summoner."

I thought about those words, and I wondered why he didn't put it that way to me. Maybe he expected me to have some emotion. He probably knows I need it for what I intend to do. I still kept that advice in mind, though. But anyway, that revealed it. This guy is a guardian for another summoner, and that means an Al Bhed had rescued her. As he departed, I started to run after him. I wanted so badly to yell after him, "Don't worry about her! She's in good hands! She's safe!" But I knew I couldn't. I'd be giving myself away if I did.

"What's wrong?" Wakka asked.

"Oh, I . . . just wanted to wish him good luck," I lied.

Once again, after that experience, I thought about Home again. I thought about my mission, my promise. I think for the first time, I realized that Yunie wasn't going to be with us for much longer. If it wasn't me that was going to bring her Home, it would be Brother or someone else. And nobody's been learning the level of white magic that she knew. If we were going to continue, somebody's gotta step it up. I wished I could somehow send a message to Father about the upcoming wedding. We had to stop that, too.

As we were clearing the forest, we took an unexpected detour. Auron wanted us to see something. He led us to a glass-like lake. He told us it was the stuff spheres were made of. I didn't know that. It was pretty cool. But then we had to battle a really tough fiend. That was mostly Lulu's battle because you had to combat it with magic. After we defeated it, we found a movie sphere. Auron took it and gave it to Tidus. "Jecht left this sphere here ten years ago."

"Whoa, this is old!" Wakka said. "Don't know if you can play it back."

Auron, however, told Tidus to. The sphere showed Auron, a lot younger, and High Summoner Braska, and in the background was a gruff, but playful, voice. It must have been the guardian Jecht. Throughout the sphere, younger Auron was very impatient and just wanted to get on with the pilgrimage. ("_Dra suna drehkc lryhka_ . . ." well, you know the rest.) Braska was more patient and understanding, but I think he was sad because he knew what was coming. And Jecht, he just wanted to have fun and take his sphere movies. He was like Seymour, "There's no rush," and he seemed very disappointed that they weren't as famous as he would have liked. How much fame could you get?

The sphere went white. "What's the point? He wasn't on some pleasure cruise," Tidus said impatiently, echoing young Auron's words.

But when a sphere is done, it usually shuts off automatically. It still stayed white. "I think there's more," I said.

And there was more. We finally saw Jecht. He was dressed a whole lot like Tidus, actually. He was sitting cross-legged on the shore of the same lake. He had a different tone in his voice. I don't remember exactly what he said. I wasn't really listening because I could tell he wasn't talking to me. And my mind wandered back to when I first met Tidus, and he told me that Jecht was his father. And I didn't believe him. I thought he was crazy. I thought Sin made him crazy. But the way that Jecht was reaching out with his words was almost exactly the same way I reached out to Yunie a while ago. I could start to see a tiny bit of a family resemblance with Tidus. No, it's not possible. Nobody even said that Jecht had a family. Still, I even started to wonder what all was true. Could everything I know about Braska and Jecht and Auron be a lie? No, there had to be some things that were true. Besides, why would Father lie to me?

Auron talked more to Tidus after the images finally faded to black, but I was numb to what he said. It was their concern, not mine. But there was one thing I heard Auron say. "As he journeyed with us and came to understand Spira and Braska's resolve, it happened gradually, but Jecht changed. He decided he would join Braska in his fight against Sin."

"So then, he gave up going home?" Tidus asked.

"That was his decision," Auron replied. "This is not the only sphere Jecht made. There are nine more. They are hidden all throughout Spira, in notable places of the pilgrimage. If you want to learn the truth about Jecht, I suggest you find them."

"Great, another hunt," I thought I heard Tidus mutter. Something about the whole experience didn't sit well with him, obviously. I thought he might need some cheering up.

Most everybody walked ahead from there. Auron stayed behind to continue to talk to Tidus. I lingered behind too, but I gave them some space. Then, Auron came out of the glade and spotted me. "This detour is over, Rikku. Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming. I just want to say a few things to Tidus."

"Don't take to long," Auron replied without stopping or turning around.

A few moments later, Tidus emerged from the glade. "Who's the slowpoke now?" he chuckled.

"I just wanted to tell you, you were great at the Luca tournament. You have got to be one of the best Blitzball players I've ever seen."

"One of the best? Not THE best?"

"Uh, not quite, but close. So, where did you learn that tech?"

"Tech?"

"You know, that shot you made in the second half, before Wakka got back in the game? Did you come up with it yourself?"

"Uh, no. I just picked it up somewhere."

"I knew it! I knew it was a strategy. My brother thought it was a fluke! It's a shame it didn't work."

"Yeah. It usually does. I guess I need to practice it more."

"I'll be anxious to see you try it again."

"We'll see. Let's think about the pilgrimage for now."

He started walking on. "Hey, Tidus!"

"What?" he said somewhat annoyed.

"That guy on the sphere, Jecht, he looks like a pretty cool guy. I don't know if he was really talking to you or not, but if he really is related to you–"

"Look, Rikku, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh. I just thought you needed to cheer up some."

"I know you meant well, but I'm OK. Come on, everybody else is probably waiting for us."

As I followed Tidus, I began to question that old Al Bhed proverb. Things do change. If Auron was right, what happened to Jecht was that he grew. But then again, maybe people don't really change. Tidus was an example of that. Maybe there are just aspects of people we can't see because they don't really come out until the circumstances are just right, or just wrong.

That's something I saw a lot on this journey, and it was a really hard lesson I learned just a few minutes later.


	6. The Al Bhed Hater

Chapter 6: The Al Bhed-Hater

Weather in Spira is weird. A few miles at our backs was a place where it's eternally raining. Then, we went through a place where it probably never rains, a place of ultimate tranquility. Right after we got out of there, we came to a place that was all snowy. I kinda wished I wore some warmer clothes. Of course, we don't have a lot of winter gear at Home.

Right at the exit of Macalania Woods was another one of Rin's shops. Tidus wanted to stop there, though as Kimhari noted, it was kinda a pointless stop. Macalania Temple was very nearby, and Tidus had just purchased some items from a merchant in the woods. I guess he just wanted a place to think for a little while. Well, I used the time to get prepared. I took a look at the Sphere Grid. I had banked quite a few Sphere levels. I took a Level 2 sphere and unlocked one domain next to mine.

"What are you doing?" Tidus asked.

"Oh, I'm just brushing up on my White Magic," I answered.

"How come?"

"Well, I was just thinking, it might be awhile before we see Yunie again. If somebody doesn't learn some of her healing spells, we're going to go through Hi-Potions and Elixirs and Remedies like nobody's business. It's not very economical, you know?"

"How can you even think something like that? She's going to continue her pilgrimage, remember?"

"Uh, yeah, but first she's gotta go on her honeymoon with Maester Seymour and–"

"UGH! Sorry I asked."

I laughed as he walked away. I only got enough Sphere Levels to learn one White Magic spell, but it was a good one, very advanced.

As soon as we left, we ran into the familiar Guado Tromell. "Lady Yuna, we have been expecting you," he said in that tired, grandiose voice. "We were surprised you had decided to come so soon–pleasantly surprised, of course. Lord Seymour sends his apologies for having left Guadosalam without notice."

"It's quite alright," Yuna answered. "I have one question, if I may, sir."

"Milady?"

"I want to keep journeying, even if I marry. Do you think that Maester Seymour would let me?"

"But of course, milady. Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I'm sure."

"Well, that's not going to make Father happy," I thought.

Yuna wished us farewell, and Tromell said to us, "We must follow Guado tradition. I must ask you to wait here a little while longer. I'll send someone to escort you." What tradition was that? Is it bad luck for EVERYBODY to see the bride in her wedding gown before the wedding?

Yunie then looked at us as though she wanted to say something. Auron stepped foreword. "We're all with you. Do as you will," he said gently.

"Thank you," she replied as she went on with Tromell.

Auron then turned to Tidus. "Sorry," he said. Tidus looked at him in confusion. "That was your line." I smiled. So there's that sense of humor Rin was talking about!

Tidus ran forward. "Yuna!" he yelled. She turned around, and Tidus put two fingers in his mouth and whistled really, really loud. I smiled. Brother can do that; I never could manage.

Yuna laughed and called back, "Yes sir!" I guess that was something private between them.

I also ran forward to wish her luck, maybe even tell her that she will make such a beautiful bride. But then, I saw something else–machina. There was a big explosion, and machina and Al Bhed soldiers were everywhere on the frozen lake. "Oh no!" I cried. I ran toward Yuna and Tromell. I was worried they might get hurt. The others joined me.

"Stand back!" Auron ordered Tromell.

"Thank you," Tromell wheezed. Yuna broke away from him and joined us.

And then, my heart sank as I saw who was in charge of this mission–Brother. "Rikku!" he yelled at me. He was not thrilled to see me on the wrong side. "Don't interfere, or you get this!" I guess I could admire that he didn't want to hurt me. Next to him pulled up this huge tank with a big machina gun. "Your precious magic and aeons are sealed!"

"Oh no!" I cried.

"What did he say?" Lulu asked.

"He's going to use an anti-magic field on us!"

"GET THEM!" Brother ordered as the machina drove forward. It really made me sad that he was getting all into this. A little thing flew up in the air that wouldn't allow us to cast any spells. I'm usually good at finding the one vulnerable spot in machina that I could just touch and make it fall apart. I tried, but it didn't work. I have to admit, Brother did a pretty good job on it. So I traded back with Wakka. For a couple of turns, Tidus and Auron hit the tank with their swords, and Wakka hit at the flying thing with his Blitzball. When it fell, he traded places with Yuna, and she called one of her aeons, Ixion since it had electric attacks. But the tank had a really big attack called Mana Beam. Ixion barely survived, but eventually the aeon took the thing down. Immediately after, Tromell led Yuna away.

"Rikku!" Brother yelled at me again. "I will tell Father!"

Uh oh. This is not good at all. He is going to tell Father that I'm fighting for the summoner and that I had betrayed him and all the Al Bhed. He had to understand. I'm not sure if Rin would be a good defense for me; he may not get there soon enough. I had to tell Brother, but I couldn't use the human language. Brother spoke nothing but Al Bhed. But if I speak Al Bhed, I'll break my promise to Lulu. Everyone will know. I had no choice, though. It's time to do as Auron advised me. It's time to face my fears.

I looked straight at Brother and yelled back in fluent Al Bhed, "I AM A GUARDIAN OF YUNA, YOU SEE? YUNA IS SAFE! WE WILL GUARD HER! SHE IS SAFE!"

He looked back in me in anger. "YOU DO THIS ALONE, SISTER!" he yelled back. Then, he ran away. The rest of the Al Bhed followed. That hurt, on top of everything else. He didn't understand. I thought he thought we were still enemies.

I turned around and saw everyone staring at me. I forced a smile and said bashfully, "I told him I was a guardian." I looked directly at Lulu and continued, "Well, guess I had to, really." I was laughing nervously again. It was coming, I knew it.

"How come you speak Al Bhed?" Wakka asked.

I could lie. I could just tell Wakka that learning Al Bhed had always been a hobby of mine, as it is for Tidus. But then Auron might think that everything he had been trying to tell me had just been a waste of time. No, I am proud of who I am. I have to show it. I have to open my eyes. OK, deep breath. "Because, I'm Al Bhed. And that was my brother." (I think I added that part for all those who knew my secret, so that they wouldn't be so quick to judge him.) Here it comes. Kimhari is going to jump on me and rip me to shreds. Maybe Auron will charge at me with that huge sword.

"You . . . knew?" Wakka asked Lulu and Tidus. They nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We knew you'd be upset," Lulu said matter-of-factly.

"No," I thought. "No! Not Wakka!"

"This is great!" Wakka grumbled. "I can't believe I've been traveling with an Al Bhed, a HEATHEN!"

No, no, NO! I felt like I was melting inside. My favorite athlete, my friend, my HERO! How could he hate me? Guard your emotions, guard your emotions, guard your emotions. Well, I kept myself from crying. Instead, I tried to defend myself. "You're wrong! We have nothing against Yevon!"

"But you Al Bhed use to forbidden machina! You know what that means? Sin was born because people used machina!"

I never was sure where that idea came from. "You got proof? Show me proof!"

"It's in Yevon's teachings, not that you'd know!"

Book, chapter, and verse? No, I had another approach. "That's not good enough! Yevon says this, Yevon says that. Can't you think for yourself?" I really didn't mean to sound that disrespectful. It's just that so many times, I think the priests and maesters distort the teachings, and people just follow them without a second thought. They don't even check the teachings. I didn't want Wakka to be one of those people.

"Well then, you tell me! Where DID Sin come from, huh?"

"I . . . I don't know!"

"You badmouth Yevon, and that's all you can come up with?"

Well, what else could I say? That's always been a mystery to me! "But that doesn't mean you should do whatever they say! Nothing will ever change that way!"

"Nothing HAS to change!"

How could he say that, knowing what's coming? "You want Sin to keep coming back?! There maybe a way to stop it, you know!"

"Sin will be gone once we atone for our past mistakes!"

"When? How?"

He shook his fist at me. "If we keep faith in Yevon's teachings, it will be gone one day!"

I sighed heavily. "Why do I even bother?" I had heard everything that Wakka said before, but there are just so many mysteries, so many gaps. Why is it we Al Bhed are the only ones who've seen it? It really just doesn't make sense that Yevon would hold something against all of us that was done a thousand years ago. Unless Yevon is someone who strikes you down if you make one little mistake. You keep making mistakes, and he keeps counting them against you. If either of those ideas are true, why do we keep praising him? Why do we say he's so good? Does he not forgive? And probably the biggest question of all in my mind is if machina is so bad, why did Yevon give us machina? The teachings say that everything comes from him. I thought then that the truth was somewhere, but neither Wakka nor I knew it. It had to be in the middle.

Auron interrupted my thoughts. "Rikku?"

"Huh?"

He had approached a snow maneuvering machina. "Will this move?"

I nodded and went over to the vehicle to give it a look. I heard Wakka continue to argue with Tidus. Wakka ended up stomping off by himself. I was still so sad that it was him. I got up and looked at Lulu. "I'm sorry."

She looked at me with kindness. "You've done nothing to apologize for." I'm not so sure about that. I broke my promise to her and subsequently made a mess of things. But mostly, I was apologizing for him. I was sorry that he hated me. I was sorry that I lost a mentor and a friend.

I got all of the snow maneuvering machina ready. Tidus was anxious to get on one, and Lulu hopped on the back. Kihmari took one by himself. That left Auron and me. Auron took the steering bars and started it up. "Are you getting on, or not?" he asked me.

"Oh," I said and got in the back. I grabbed his left arm, the one he never used. It felt so strong. We started down an icy crevasse. I wanted approval from someone for what I did, just to validate me. I wasn't sure if I really wanted that from Auron or not, but since he was there . . . I cleared my throat. "Well? Did I . . . did that sound . . . good?"

"You did fine," he replied just above the sound of the motor. "Though I would have saved the theological debate for a time when it matters."

"Yeah. I didn't really WANT to go there, but I thought it mattered. I felt like I had to defend myself."

"Why?"

"Because he's my hero," I thought, but I couldn't say that aloud. "Well," I said with a pained sigh, "there's just so many things I don't understand." I thought through all my theological questions, but I didn't feel like asking them to Auron. There was one, I thought, he might be able to answer. "Why do so many people hate us? I don't hate them."

Auron chuckled. I could even feel his laugh where I was holding him.

"What?"

"Do you realize that you answered your own question?"

"Huh? Uh, I don't understand."

"You know that many believers of Yevon put all of their trust in Yevon's leaders and follow them blindly. You Al Bhed prefer to pick the teachings apart, like a piece of machina. The fact that you question, that you admit you don't understand the teachings, that's why you are hated."

"How come?"

"Because you're not as easily manipulated."

"So . . . you don't hate us?"

He paused for a little while. "I can't say I agree with everything you believe, but I see no reason to hate you. You intend no harm to others. The same cannot be said of even some maesters of Yevon."

"Like Maester Seymour?"

"Yes, like Seymour."

"How do you know he intends harm?"

"You were not there at Operation Mi'hen."

"Oh, yeah." We were quiet for a while. Well, while I got him here and we're alone, I might as well ask. "Auron?"

"Yes?"

"My father has told me about you, many times. He said that you are a dangerous, evil, hateful man."

He chuckled again. "And who is your father?"

"Cid, leader of the Al Bhed."

"Ah," he said with a nod.

"He said when you were a guardian last time, you passed by the Al Bhed Home, which was not part of the pilgrimage. You fought my father, and . . . you nearly killed him. He said he . . . barely escaped with his life." Auron didn't reply. So I added with a nervous giggle, "Of course, Father LOVES to exaggerate! He's just a big storyteller, and you know, the bigger and more exciting the details–"

"It's not an exaggeration. Not entirely."

That was not what I wanted to hear. First, I find out my favorite athlete and mentor hates me, and now I learn that another person I've tried to admire really did attempted murder on my father. "So, you really did fight him? You would have killed him?"

"Yes," he said flatly.

"Why? What had he done to you?"

"He had done nothing to me."

"Then what do you have against him?"

He turned his head slightly, just so he could see me in the corner of his scarred eye. "I think you know."

No, I didn't. "Do, do you have the same thing against me? Because I'm his daughter?"

He turned forward again. "Not yet." About then, we had arrived at the temple, so that just added to the many unanswered questions I had.

Just inside the doors, we saw a lonely Al Bhed woman who gave us money. I felt sorry for her and wondered what she was doing there. We walked down the path to the building where a monk was guarding the doors. "Halt!" the monk said and pointed at me. "The likes of her are not welcomed in this hallowed place!"

Well, now I know why that woman was just sitting at the door. Haven't I had enough hatred for one day? Auron stepped forward. "She is a guardian!" he said sharply.

"A-an Al Bhed guardian? Preposterous!"

I felt a little better now that Auron was defending me, but I had to show him that I could defend myself. I looked at the monk and said boldly, "I've decided to be Yuna's guardian now, and that's all I want."

"And that's all one needs to be a guardian," Auron said in a conclusive manner.

"Very well," the monk said reluctantly and stepped aside. There were lots of people in the temple celebrating the upcoming marriage. There was a full band of musicians dressed in elaborate costumes. In the side rooms, monks were eating feasts and talking about how wonderful Seymour is. Even the merchant we saw in the Macalania Woods was there, and he had his wares at a discounted price. Tromell gave us a gift to thank us for helping him and Yunie get past the Al Bhed. Ironically, though, it was a gift for me, a new targe. I guess it's because they left early and didn't know I revealed I was one of them. A female acolyte, who the group seemed to know pretty well, said that Yuna went to the Chamber of the Fayth with Maester Seymour. We all knew that's where we needed to go. But almost as soon as Tidus put one foot on the steps from the stairs leading to the chamber, another acolyte ran from one of the side rooms and screamed. She had found a movie sphere in Yuna's belongings. We went over to the side room and got the sphere.

"Where did she get this?" I asked.

"It came from Jyscal when we visited the Farplane, remember?" Lulu answered.

"Oh. I didn't see." I decided not to mention that I was distracted.

"This may well answer a few questions," Auron said as he turned it on.

We saw a picture of the old Guado leader, Lord Jyscal. His weak voice still haunts me. He said that Seymour's mind was closed to Yevon's goodness, and his heart was open to darkness. He even said that Seymour was responsible for Jyscal's death. His warning chilled me, "If he is not stopped, he will surely bring destruction and chaos to Spira!" This was the man who just a few days ago I was elated to meet at the Luca games, who I was proud to say knew my father! This was the man who fed me delicious food, who showed me that wondrous sphere projection! He was a murderer? He was just as bad as Sin? And why was Yunie signing up to belong to him for the rest of her life?

As the sphere ended, I looked straight at Auron. "Will Yunie be alright?"

"Without us, no," Auron replied.

So we started heading out of the room, but Wakka called after us, "Where you going?"

"You saw it, didn't you?" Tidus said. "Seymour's bad news!"

"But he's a maester!"

I couldn't believe it. Wakka is so hard-headed, he wouldn't take on a leader of his religion, even if it is proven that he is wrong? He ended up following, even though he continued to mutter to himself, "This can't be happening."

We went up the stairs and started going through an icy passage. "Hey," I said, "I thought the Chamber of the Fayth was preceded by some kind of puzzle that you have to solve."

"Yes, the Cloister of Trials," Lulu answered.

"Well, where is it?"

"Obviously, Yuna's already solved it," Auron replied. "It's a good thing, too. We don't have time to go through it."

"Yeah," Tidus said. "Besides, every one of those things makes me want to pull my hair out."

We came to an open room where Seymour and some other Guado soldiers were waiting. "Seymour!" Tidus yelled.

"Please be silent," Seymour chided. "Lady Yuna prays to the Fayth."

"Make me!" We came forward with our weapons all pointed at him.

Then, Yuna stumbled out of the opposite room. She cast us a stunned look. "But why?"

"We saw Jyscal's sphere!"

Auron looked at Seymour coldly. "You killed him," he accused.

But Seymour only smiled slyly. "What of it?" That must be how far gone he was, if he didn't see the evil of murdering someone. He looked at Yunie. "Lady Yuna, surely you knew of these things, did you not?" Yuna nodded. "Well then, why have you come here?"

"I came . . . I came to stop you!" she answered.

I smiled and mentally cheered, "Go Yunie!"

"I see," he answered. "You came to punish me, then."

"Well, duh," I thought.

He gestured to her, but she did not come to his side. "What a pity," he sighed. Then, we all surrounded her. "Ah, of course. 'Protect the summoner even at the cost of one's life,' the Code of the Guardian." He continued to smile and said so nonchalantly, "Well, if you're offering your lives, I will have to take them."

So, we prepared for battle. First, Tidus, Auron, and Yuna stepped up. Auron and Tidus both tried to strike at Seymour, but two Guado soldiers took the hit for him, and immediately after, they healed themselves with a Hi-Potion.

"Hey, Rikku!" Tidus called. "See if you can stop them!"

"Right!" I called back. "Let me trade with Yunie."

"Uh, ok," she replied. I got in her place. Then, I stole the Hi-Potion from one of the Guado guards.

"Good going, Rikku!" Tidus encouraged me.

"Thanks!" I said to him.

"Here, you can do it quicker on the other one. Haste!"

Suddenly, I felt a lot more energetic. I felt like my heart was beating faster and even my breathing had increased. I ran at breakneck speed and grabbed the Hi-Potion from the other guy.

"That's not all I can do. Check this out." I looked toward Tidus. "Regan!" He glowed all sorts of colors for a second, and then he was surrounded with a pulsating glow as he continued to get stronger. On my next turn, I did the same for Auron. Then, I gave Yunie back her spot.

Tidus and Auron killed the two Guado soldiers, and then turned their attention to Seymour. "Feel my pain!" he called. "Come Anima!"

Then, the same aeon that he summoned at the tournament appeared. I was just thinking, "Man, if all those fiends Luca didn't stand a chance against this thing, what are we gonna do?"

"Yuna, the new aeon!" Tidus called.

Yuna began to pray, "Oh Fayth, give me strength," and a queen made entirely of ice floated down from the heavens. She continually called down icicles to fall from the sky to hit Anima. Whenever he hurt her by opening his eyes, she healed herself with ice magic. Then, when her overdrive was ready, she used all her power to surround Anima with ice. Then, she simply snapped her fingers, and all the ice shattered. That was so amazing! It killed Anima off like that.

"That power that defeated Anima, it will be mine!" Seymour demanded. He struck the aeon with just a couple of attacks, and she fell down and vanished. Well, it was up to us, now. Luckily, it didn't take much. Tidus delivered the final blow. Seymour began to fall. Yuna rushed to his side. He smiled at her weakly. "Yuna, you would pity me now?" She stepped back, and he died. We all saw him die. There was no question that he died. Trust me, that really needs to be clear.

"Lord Seymour!" We turned around. Tromell was standing in the doorway. He ran to the maester's body.

I saw Wakka shaking in disbelief. "What . . . what have I done?"

I have to admit, I was a little shaken, too. I didn't know I had it in me to kill someone. But, but, he was evil. He would have done terrible things to Yunie, to all Spira, if we let him live. I wanted to say, "We did the right thing, Wakka," but I didn't think he'd listen to me. I thought his ears would be permanently deaf to me from now on.

"Wait a minute!" Tidus yelled frantically. "It's not our fault at all! Seymour struck first! He's the bad guy!"

Tromell stared at us. "YOU did this?"

"Yuna, send him!" Auron demanded.

"Yeah," I thought, "if he isn't sent, he'd be a nightmare of a fiend!"

Yuna started, but Tromell got in her way. "No, stop! Stay away from him, traitors!" He and other Guado took Seymour's body away.

Yuna fell to her knees. "Traitors?" she whispered.

That word didn't really hit me very hard. I'm an Al Bhed; I'm already a traitor.

"We're finished," Wakka said.

"Now, hold on just a minute!" Tidus yelled again. "Seymour's the bad guy, right? We'll just explain to everyone what happened!"

"Yeah," I thought. "Some of those Guado heard the sphere too. They'll believe us."

But Auron said, "It won't be that easy. Let's get out of here!"

So we bolted back to the snowy pathway, but it suddenly vanished under our feet. "Gimme a break!" Tidus yelled impatiently as he hopped out of the way.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"THIS is the Cloister of Trials," Auron explained.

"It's activating after Yunie's been to the Chamber of the Fayth?"

"Rather unconventional," Lulu muttered with a nod.

"Well, we better solve it if we want to go on," Tidus sighed.

So, we all worked on it together. I won't say exactly what we did just in case somebody reading these words may visit that Cloister of Trials one day; I wouldn't want to spoil it for ya. But I could really tell what Tidus meant about it being so frustrating. It seemed like once we got everything figured out, we had to take it all apart again to figure something else out. And I really didn't get how it was powered. How was it unlike machina?

Anyway, after what seemed like forever, we got out. Tromell and several other Guado were waiting for us. "Give us a chance to explain," Auron said calmly.

"No need," Tromell answered. "I already know what I will tell the other maesters."

"Meaning?"

"Lord Seymour was the leader of the Guado before he was a maester!"

"You're not letting us go," Tidus said in a shocked whisper.

"Let you go? Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did."

I knew we only had one hope, our one piece of evidence of the true Seymour. "Wait, wait! Jyscal's sphere! We can show it to them!"

"You mean this?" Tromell held a sphere up in his hand, and he crushed it. I couldn't believe it; he wouldn't even try to hear us out? He looked very sternly at all of his, his eyes alight with a fire I never knew he had in him as he said, "The Guado take care of Guado affairs."

I guess when I heard him say that, I felt a little bad for meddling. But then Kimhari, the Ronso, spoke the first word that I remember him saying. "AWAY!" We all made a run for it. We ran as quickly as we could on the icy path outside the temple, but the Guado soldiers were on our heels. Every time they caught up to us, we had to fight a battle. My job was to make sure I stole the Guado's Hi-Potions at the beginning of the battle. Then, I stepped back and let Tidus and Auron hack away.

We finally made it out to the frozen lake. The Guado caught us there and summoned a big, white beast. Again, I just stole the Guado's potions and let the others do their work. When Auron struck the final blow, we all got ready to run again. But then the creature, as its last act, pounded on the ice beneath us, and we all fell. Everything went dark.

When I came to, I found myself sitting in a shallow puddle of water which seemed to fill what looked like the ruins of a city. I could hear the voice of someone unseen singing very loudly a song I've known since childhood. I shakily got up and made my way over to the others.

The first thing I saw was Yuna, lying unconscious on a stone. Kimhari was standing next to her. My heart jumped, but as I came closer, I could hear her breathing. She was OK.

"Rats!" I heard Tidus say.

"What is it?" Lulu asked.

"The Save Sphere won't let me play Blitzball! I mean, I could use a diversion like that right now, and I just recruited a couple of good players, too."

"Do you really expect the crowds to turn up to watch someone who killed a maester play?" Auron asked.

"Oh. You gotta point. So, where are we?"

"We're under the lake ice, aren't we?" Lulu answered. "Look, that's the bottom of the temple. We've fallen a long way."

So, that explains the voice, singing that simple but beautiful, haunting song. It's coming from the temple. Tidus wandered around and talked to everybody, like he always does. When he came to me, I knew his biggest concern would be Yunie. "I'm sure Yunie's OK," I said, answering his unvoiced concern. "She's breathing fine and all." He nodded and said nothing. Then, I wondered what he found out from talking to everyone. "How are Lulu and Wakka?" (I figured I didn't need to ask about Auron; he has more lives than a cat.)

"Wakka's in shock," he answered. "Can't say I blame him either. And Lulu, well, she's the same as always."

It was then I realized how much I admired Lulu–her personality, her strength, her intelligence. She was like a woman that I would like to be. "She's so together," I said aloud. "All grown up, I guess."

"I guess," Tidus said with a shrug.

I must have felt a little jealous of her because I felt so much like the baby of the group. "Well . . . just give me five or six more years."

Tidus turned to the Ronso. "So, uh, Kimhari, how do we get out of here?"

I was mad that Tidus didn't want to talk about my future anymore and struck at him. "Hey, don't change the subject!"

"We climb," the Ronso somberly replied.

"Kimhari too!"

The Ronso then looked at me, probably one of the first times he gave me much notice. "Only those who try will become."

"Huh?" I didn't understand. Try what? Become what?

"I think he means you have to work hard if you want to be like Lulu," Tidus explained.

"Oh, I will!" I said enthusiastically.

But the Ronso replied, "Kimhari thinks Rikku should stay Rikku."

"What?! Are you saying I'll never be like Lulu? KIMHARI?!" I was annoyed then because I thought he was saying that I will always be the baby of the group. But the more I thought about it, and the more I understood Ronso speech, I realized Kimhari, in the first time he really spoke to me, was paying me a very high compliment. He was saying he liked me the way that I am. If only I realized it then. Thinking back on it, what Kimhari told me was the second-best thing I heard that day. (Number 1 is coming up.)

Tidus laughed at my little tirade against the Ronso, but then Wakka yelled at us, "HOW CAN YOU LAUGH AT A TIME LIKE THIS?"

Just then, Yuna started to stir. Once she was fully conscious, she told us she was going to Seymour to confront him about killing Jyscal and trying to convince to turn himself in. (I wonder why she didn't ask him to seek Yevon's forgiveness.) But Seymour responded to her accusation with silence. "Now, I don't even know if it was worth it," she mumbled. "I should've told you what I was going to do."

"Enough!" Auron scolded. "Dwelling in the past is futile!"

Why is it every time Auron speaks, it's always in a scold? "Hey, you don't have to say it like that!" I argued.

He turned to me. "You WANT to waste time listening to her regrets?"

No, but still . . . I repeated more quietly, "You don't have to say it like that."

"Our immediate concern is Yuna's pilgrimage." He looked at her. "Are you willing to go on?"

"For goodness sake, Yunie, say no!" I thought. "Don't throw your life away for our sakes!"

But she said, "Yes. But then, do you think Yevon would allow it?"

"The Fayth are the ones that give power to summoners, not the temples or the teachings," Auron answered. "If the temples try to stop us, then we will defy Yevon if we must!"

There was a moment of stunned silence. "I can't believe you said that!" I was the first to say. Didn't he just tell me that it's not the teachings that's wrong, it's the teachers? I was amazed that Wakka didn't immediately jump on that. I had to show him that I'm not against Yevon. Still, I also had to remember that Auron did make this journey before. He had already grown, and he probably knew something about Yevon that we didn't. The others started arguing about the next step, but Yuna made the decision.

"We must go to Bevelle. We must speak to Maester Mika and explain what has happened. There is no other way, I think."

"I agree," Wakka nodded.

"Sir Auron?"

"So, it is decided," he said quietly.

"Will you come with us?"

Auron said in a somewhat playful tone, "I am the troublemaker, after all."

"Yeah, that's right!" Tidus laughed. "You can always count on Auron to complicate things!"

I wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but I tried to join in. "Yeah, Kimhari roars, and Auron runs off–"

"I never asked you to follow me," Auron replied in his usual, cold tone.

"Hey, but that's what friends are for, right?" Tidus said.

"Yep!" I cheered. THAT was the best thing! "Friends, huh? First time a non Al-Bhed called me that!"

For a while after that, we all just stood around, listening to and contemplating the hymn coming from the temple. I thought of how that song was everywhere in Spira, coming from every temple. The Al Bhed sang it all the time, especially after a death. We didn't have a summoner to perform a sending, you see, so singing the Hymn of the Fayth was the best thing we could do. Sometimes, we sang it when a new baby is born. Nobody really knows what it means. I've heard that it comes from a language long forgotten in Spira. I've also heard that the words are in a divine tongue that only the Fayth know. Either one of those theories could be true. Whatever it is, the Hymn is so strange. Everyone in Spira loved the Hymn, and no matter how many times you heard it, you never got tired of it. It made you sad and happy at the same time. It's such a shame, I hardly ever hear that hymn anymore. Sometimes I worry that I'm forgetting how it goes. I often catch a new song coming out of the temples, a song that fills me with sadness and fear. It's strange we hear such a song when we are in this Eternal Calm.

Suddenly, we noticed that the lake bottom was filled with an eerie silence. Everything started to shake, and there was a loud roar. "Sin!" Yuna yelled. Sure enough, I looked up and saw the beast coming right toward us.

"The toxin! Look out!" Lulu yelled. I started to seek shelter, like the others, but then I thought about Tidus and his other encounters with Sin. I wondered if it was still true. Well, if it is, I'll rescue him.

It was the same. He was standing stiff as a board, staring at the monster . . . and he was talking to it! "The song," he said. "You were listening too!" Did he think Sin could hear him? Would Sin care? Did it have feelings? Why would it listen to the Hymn of the Fayth, the hymn of its enemies?

The toxin must have taken over me as well because as I ran to Tidus to try and get him out of the way, everything started to blur. I was running a lot more slowly, and it became harder for me to breathe. Finally, it all faded away.

I heard laughter. Children's laughter. In a hazy picture, I saw a little girl, probably about 5 years old, with short, brown hair. And she was laughing. She was spinning around, holding hands with another girl who I couldn't quite see. Then, they were playing some sort of hand-clapping game while singing a song about a leaping chocobo. Then, she was laughing and hugging the girl, and a boy ran up to them and drop a machina spider on the brown haired girl's shoulder. The girls screamed and ran away as the boy laughed. I recognized that boy. "Brother?" He was a lot younger, and his hair was shoulder length and wavy. Then, the brown haired girl was seen crouching behind a big chair. "Vuiht oui!" (Found you) the other girl said laughing, and they both laughed. I recognized that voice. It was me, much younger. What's going on? I don't remember this girl. I knew the songs and the games, but I didn't remember any of this.

The scenes faded away, and then I saw Father, sitting in his favorite chair. He still had a little bit of hair, so he must have been younger. From the angle that I was, it looked like I was sitting on his knee. "_Tytto,"_ (Daddy) my little voice said, "why did she have to go?"

"She was . . . just visiting."

"When will she be back?"

_"E tuh'd ghuf, tayn,"_ (I don't know, dear) he replied. "Her _tyt_ did a very bad thing."

"What did he do?"

"I can't tell you now. You wouldn't understand." The image faded again.

Another hazy picture appeared, this of my brother, a lot younger, while he was eating a sandwich. "I heard that Braska became a summoner."

"What a summoner?" my young voice asked.

"He's going to bring the Calm."

"What does that mean?"

"He's going to make Sin go away."

_"Vunajan?"_ (Forever?)

_"Hu, hud vunajan."_ (No, not forever.) "For a little while."

"Isn't Braska—? He has the same name!" My head turned and looked at Father, who was sitting at the same table.

"He's the same man," Father replied reluctantly.

"Is that the bad thing he did? Why is it bad?"

The image faded before he could give me an answer. Then, I heard Father's voice full of anger. "Don't believe the moogle tales you're hearing about Braska and his guardians! They strayed from their pilgrimage path and came here! Auron fought with me for no reason. He would have killed me if he had the chance! It was only by Yevon's grace that I escaped."

Suddenly, I saw many images of a young Auron striking his huge sword at Father. Father was blocking him with some kind of machina gun, and a few times he attacked back. Eventually, though, Auron sliced through the machina. Then he raised his sword high above his head and said (as I heard him say many times on the battlefield), "Farewell." I felt myself flinch as the sword come down, but then the picture faded away.

The next thing I saw was the door to Father's office. A small hand reached out and pushed the door open. _"Tytto?"_ I said in a small voice.

Father was sitting at his desk. Sitting on one side of the room was a bare-chested man breathing hard, and standing against a wall was a man all in red. Father looked up at me. "Rikku? _Fro ynah'd oui eh pat?"_

_"E lyh'd cmaab."_

It was strange. Even though I knew we were speaking in Al Bhed, I couldn't understand it. Another man I didn't see before came forward. He was very tall and wore funny clothes, but he had a kind smile. _"Dryd fyc so vyimd. E's cummo."_

I looked back at Father. "_Hu, ed fyc Pnudran. Ra's sygehk druca huecac ykyeh!"_

But the tall man came closer to me and smiled. "_Mad sa dyga oui du pat, meddma_ Rikku."

"Braska," the man in red said sharply.

"It's alright, Auron," he said. "I know what I'm doing."

"_Yna oui_ summoner Braska?" I asked in wonder.

_"Oac, E ys Yuna's vydran."_ He opened his arms, and the next moment, I saw everything from a higher angle.

_"Mad ran ku! Bidh ran tufh!"_ Father said angrily pounding his fist on the desk.

"_Bmayca tun'd pa syt, Pnudran-eh-myf_," Braska answered. "_E ghuf y kuut mimmypo dryd lyh bid ran nekrd du cmaab_." He smiled at me. "_Cyo kuuthekrd_."

I saw my little hand wave. "_Kuuthekrd, Tytto_."

Then Braska said in a very soft, tender voice, "_Dyga lyna uv ran_."

I felt movement, and I saw the door close slowly until everything dissolved into white. Then, I heard one voice, a gruff voice that I only heard once before, in that sphere that Auron showed Tidus. It was the voice of the man we saw at the end.

"Cute kid. Makes me wish I had a daughter."


	7. Home Again

Chapter 7: Home Again

It took a while for me to realize that the white I was seeing was the sun behind my closed eyelids. It was very hot. I was lying on something soft, but scratchy. Sand? I opened my eyes and saw the sun beating down on me from a cloudless sky. I was lying on a bed of sand. I started pushing myself up to sitting position. I saw a Save Sphere next to me. Hey, could it be? I slowly stood and saw all sorts of remnants of ruins and pieces of old machina. No way! Sin . . . brought me Home.

Oh, my head hurt so much! I touched the Save Sphere, and I felt kinda better. I looked around. Where are the others? Yuna! Where did she go? If she came here, they may have finally taken her. That would be great. My mission would be complete; she'd finally be safe.

Those things I saw just after Sin came, what were they? Was it real? It felt real. Were they memories? Why don't I remember them? I think there's only one person who will know for sure. Wonder where he is?

After a while, the whole crew headed my direction–well, everybody except Yuna. "Where's Yuna?" I asked.

"Gone," Tidus answered.

"Gone," Lulu repeated, then added sadly, "Some guardian I am."

Well, I had to tell them where we were, but I had to make sure they keep quiet. "Uh, there's something I want to tell you, but promise not to say anything."

Wakka crossed his arms and scowled.

"No glaring either!" I told him. Then I looked at everyone. "I know where we are. We're on Bikanel Island. There's a place us Al Bhed call Home near here. Yunie's there, I'm sure of it! Other Al Bhed must have come and rescued her."

"Rescued? You mean kidnapped!" Wakka accused.

"What does it matter, as long as Yuna's safe?" Tidus spoke up.

Good, he understands. That's one of the things I really liked about Tidus; he always understood. Well . . . almost always. "That's right. Anyway, I'll take you there if you promise that you won't tell anyone about it! Especially not Yevonites, OK? Who knows what they'll do if they knew?"

"Gimme a break. What are you accusing Yevon of this time?" Wakka demanded.

"Yevon did something really bad to us before."

"Well, you Al Bhed must have deserved it!"

"Argh! Can't you guys talk about this later?" Tidus yelled.

I was so relieved at Tidus saving the day; that was something I really didn't want to get into. "Just promise me you won't tell anybody about this island. Promise?"

"Wakka, come on!"

Wakka sighed. "Alright, I promise" he said reluctantly. "Lead the way!"

"You got it!" I said eagerly.

I thought I could walk to Home blindfolded, but I hadn't been this far in the Sanubia Desert by myself before. I noticed how everything looked the same–the sand, the ruins, everything. I kept getting lost. We were always getting into battles with fiends, and that just disoriented me more. (Though I found my niche again as we were finally attacked by common machina fiends. I showed everybody my skill of making them fall apart.) The worst, though, was that Tidus kept wandering off course to look around for treasure. So, it seemed like forever to get to Home.

As Tidus was wandering around and I was lost, I came with him. "This place must be perfect for you, huh Rikku? Doubt there's any thunderstorms here," he said with a laugh.

I laughed. "Yeah. So, Tidus? When Sin came to Lake Macalania, I thought I saw you . . . were you talking to it?"

Tidus nodded a little bashfully. "Yeah."

"Did you think it heard you?"

"Maybe. I don't know. It wasn't really for him that I was talking."

Did he just say what I thought he said? I shook my head. "Did you see things, too?"

"Yeah, he showed me some things."

I was bewildered by that. "Why did you just call it a 'he'?"

"Oh, uh, slip of the tongue."

"I see. Well, what Sin showed you, do you think it was real?"

"Yeah . . . they were memories."

"Were they good memories?"

"Memories are nice, but that's all they are."

Awww, he's quoting me! "But, you know that they really did happen?"

"I think so. Look, it's kinda personal, OK? I keep my memories inside, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm . . . I'm just trying to understand Sin. It's always been a mystery to me."

"From what Lulu tells me, Sin is the punishment for, and the incarnation of, crimes everybody's committed over a thousand years. Everybody knows what Sin is."

"Everybody thinks they know, but there's so much we don't know, you know? Like, why did Sin bring us here?"

"I don't know. It seems like about every time I meet Sin, he–uh, it–takes me somewhere far away that I don't know. And it always seems to be the place I need to go."

"I guess Sin moves in mysterious ways." I shook my head. "That's a bad thing to say."

"But it's true, isn't it? The more I know about Sin, the less I understand. He–uh, it–is mysterious."

"What do you think Sin really is?"

Tidus stopped walking and was silent. He sighed and buried his head in his hands, like he was thinking. Finally, he looked up and shook his head. "I'm not sure." He walked far ahead of me before I could ask him any more questions. I think . . . he probably wanted to tell me but for whatever reason, he couldn't.

--

Finally, I made it. I cleared over a dune, but the moment I saw Home, I screamed. It was falling apart! There was smoke and explosions and bodies everywhere. I could hear a warning repeated multiple times on the loud speaker.

"What? Yuna's in THERE?!" Wakka yelled.

"Of all places!" Lulu gasped. "Let's go!"

I came closer. I saw an Al Bhed hit the ground, and I recognized him right away. "Keyakku!" I ran down to my friend. "Who? Who is attacking us?" I asked in Al Bhed.

He made a raspy gasp. "Yevon . . . Guado . . ." Then he closed his eyes. I kept screaming his name, but he did not answer. Oh, this was awful! Once again, I had to tell myself to guard my emotions.

"A war? Between Yevon and the Al Bhed?" Lulu asked.

"That is wrong," another Al Bhed voice spoke up. "Guado go for the summoner!"

I looked up. "_Vydran!"_ (Father) He knelt down, held Keyakku's head, felt his neck, and shook his head. I bowed my head in sadness.

Then, Father looked at the others. "You Rikku's friends? Well, don't just stand there, come on! Let's kick those Guado out of our Home!" He stood up and took off.

"Who–?" Tidus asked.

"Cid," I answered, "leader of the Al Bhed. He's my dad."

"Let's go!" he urged me.

"Yeah, we have to save Yunie!"

"Not just Yuna, right?"

"Right!" It was good to know that someone was concerned about the rest of us.

As soon as we got inside, Father paged me. "Rikku, you read me? You go under too! I am leveling Home, and the fiend with it!"

"Oh no!" I cried.

"What'd he say?" Wakka asked.

"We have to get underground!" I couldn't say the other half because I didn't want to believe it. Father wouldn't do this!

"Where's Yuna?" Auron demanded.

"The Summoners' Sanctum. This way!"

Immediately, we were attacked by vicious fiends, accompanied by a Guado. Just like always, I snagged the Hi-Potion from the Guado and let the others do their thing. As we went on, we kept being attacked by fiends, and every time they were accompanied by a Guado. We just kept using the same strategy. Then, I showed them the direction to go, but Tidus went exactly the opposite way to another room. "No, not that way!" I yelled at him. Too late, we were attacked again.

"Look, a treasure chest!" Tidus called after battle. "Oh, but it's locked. It has clues here in Al Bhed."

"Oh, let me see there. This first clue says the first number is three plus two, and–" But by then, Tidus entered the whole combination and opened the chest. "You know Al Bhed?"

"I know enough to get by," he said with a shrug. "I've been picking up those primers. You know, it strikes me more like a secret code than a language."

"Yeah. Some people say that's how it started. I think only Mr. Rin knows for sure."

He went to another chest. "Hey, Rikku, what's your brother's name?"

"We just call him Brother!"

"Brother? That's his name?"

"It's what I've been calling him since I was little."

After his treasure chest fix was satisfied, Tidus ran in the right direction, touched the Save Sphere, and entered the door going toward the Summoners' Sanctum. Wakka looked around and said in a low tone, "This place, done for."

I looked down sadly. I couldn't kid myself any longer. "You're right. You're right, Wakka. We Al Bhed, we . . . weren't always like this. Sin destroyed the island where we all used to live. After that, we were scattered to every corner of Spira. But then my dad brought the Al Bhed together again. We became close, like a big family. He taught us if we put our minds to it and worked together, then we could make a new Home. Everyone worked hard. We had our Home back again. But now . . . why did things have to turn out this way?"

"Rikku," Wakka said softly, and he hugged me. It was the first act of kindness he had shown me since I revealed I was an Al Bhed. It didn't last, though, because the next second, we were attacked again. So we fought once more. Then I continued to lead everyone down.

"Rikku," Lulu asked, "what IS the Summoners' Sanctum?"

"The Summoners' Sanctum is where we keep the summoners," I said calmly. "We keep them safe there."

"You kidnapped them!" Wakka accused again.

I shook my head. "I know it's against the teachings and all, but . . ."

"I get why you're doing it but . . ." he said, kinda cocky.

"Well, I sure don't get it, Wakka!" Tidus said loudly. He came forward and faced me. "They might get hurt on their pilgrimage, so you kidnap them? I mean, if the summoners don't do their job, who will defeat Sin? You want to protect them, I know, but guardians are there for that! If guardians do their job well, summoners will be safe, right?"

I was stunned! How could he not know? How could he not understand?

Tidus must have known something was wrong. "RIGHT?!" He looked around at all of the guardians. Every one of them knew the truth, so why didn't they just say it? Everyone just looked tense, and maybe a little sad.

It was odd that the Ronso, the one who said less than all of us put together, was the one who broke the silence. "It's quiet. Kimhari go now."

One by one, each one of the guardians went down the stairs. Before I followed, I searched Tidus's face to see if he really didn't understand where this was going to lead. He just looked back in confusion and fear. I took a deep breath and left him. My priority had to be Yuna.

"Yunie, please be in here!"

But she wasn't there. Two other summoners were. More bodies of Al Bhed were strewn on the floor. I couldn't bear to look closer at them. The summoners were good enough to send them, which was very kind, considering that they think so little of us.

A little child guardian ran to us. "Hey, um, what's 'sacrifice?' The Al Bhed said summoners were being sacrificed, that summoners shouldn't have to do a pilgrimage."

Tidus once more said, "Why couldn't they trust the guardians to protect the summoners? The Al Bhed have no right stopping their pilgrimages!"

I couldn't stand it anymore! "The pilgrimages HAVE to stop!" I couldn't believe the words came out of my mouth. Guard your emotions. "If they don't and they get to Zanarkand . . . they might defeat Sin!" That didn't sound right. It made it sound like I didn't want Sin to be defeated. I kept trying to say it in a better way, but the words wouldn't come. No, I can't guard my emotions anymore. I got to let it go. And once I did, the truth just spilled out of me. "YUNIE WILL DIE, YOU KNOW?" I turned to Tidus, tears flowing out of my eyes. "You know, don't you? Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon. Yunie told you, didn't she? But then, but then, if she calls it, the Final Aeon's gonna kill her! Even if she does defeat Sin, it will kill Yunie too, you know!" I fell down weeping.

Tidus . . . always looked shocked, but the expression on his face, I'd never seen before. "Was I the only one . . . who didn't know?" he said almost silently. He knelt down and shook me by the shoulders, though I knew he was speaking not to me but everyone in the room. "TELL ME WHY! WHY WERE YOU HIDING IT? WHY DIDN'T I KNOW?"

"We weren't hiding it," Wakka replied consolingly.

"It was just too hard to say," Lulu added.

Tidus let me go and started to attack them. "Lulu, how could you? HOW COULD YOU? Isn't she like a sister to you? I thought you were family! Why didn't you do something, Wakka?"

"Don't you think we tried to stop her?" Lulu replied fiercely. "She follows her heart!"

"Yuna, she knew what she was doing when she became a summoner," Wakka said softly. "To face Sin, yah? Yuna knew!

I dried my tears and looked up at him. "But Wakka, that's just totally wrong! Summoners shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves just so the rest of Spira can be happy, right?"

None of the guardians answered. The summoners who were in the room talked about how they were willing to lay down their lives to create a world without Sin. It still made no sense to me. How could they do that? How could they end their lives for a world they'll never see? It just seemed so foolish! I couldn't understand why after all we went through, no one felt the level of despair that I did, and they knew Yuna longer than I have! No one wept for her that day, except Tidus. He was on the ground, pounding his fist and crying hysterically. "And I've been telling Yuna, 'Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's go fight Sin!' I told her all the things we could . . . we could . . . and all along, this whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna . . . she'd . . . just smile . . ." It was true. She always looked so happy, even when I knew she was so sad. How could she smile? Tidus cried there for a long time. Then, he dried his tears and got up. He had a look on his face like he just realized something. "I can't let her die! I'll find her!"

We got out through the back way, and from there we boarded the airship, the same ship that Tidus and I found in the sea. Father was running around giving orders, making sure that everyone had escaped Home. Tidus ran up to him. "Where's Yuna?" But Father ignored him. Tidus then grabbed him and picked him up. "I said where is she?"

Father smiled at him. "What'll you do when you find her, eh?"

"I . . . I didn't know anything about what a summoner is supposed to do." He let him go. "I told her all those things without even knowing. I gotta tell her. I gotta tell her I'm sorry! "

"That's it? You're gonna tell her you're sorry! And then you just drag her to Zanarkand and make her fight Sin, huh? You're all the same–let the summoner die so that we can live in peace!"

"NO! I'm not going to let Yuna die!"

"Hah! Words! Show me action!"

"I'm telling you, she won't die!"

Father looked at Tidus shrewdly. "Boy, don't forget those words, 'cause if you do, I'm gonna make you regret it!"

"I won't!" Tidus replied. "So you know where she is?"

"Course not. That's why we're going to look, using this airship!"

"Airship?" Wakka asked.

"Father, ready to go!" a voice called from the front. I looked up at the helm and saw Brother's spiky head.

"Yeehaw!" Father cheered. "A flight 1000 years overdue!"

At that, the ship started to move. "Whoa, it moves," Brother said.

Father laughed. "Risk big, win big!"

Then the ship became airborne. "Whoa, it flies!" Brother said.

"Next, we use that," Father said, pointing to one of the controls.

Brother sighed. "Whatever you say, Father," he said softly. He started to cry, and then at the top of his lungs, he began to sing the Hymn. Father sang with him. I understood; in this context, it was a song of mourning.

"What's going on?" Wakka asked.

"We're . . . we're going to blow up our Home," I said softly.

"How?" Lulu asked.

"With one of the 'forbidden' machina!" Father answered. Then, he ordered Brother to fire. As the building smoldered, Father laughed. "Return to sand!" Brother started to cry. "No need for tears," Father said to him. "What is good about machina is they can be build anew, you see?"

Wakka nudged me playfully. "Hey look, don't get so down. BOOM! Like happy festival fireworks, yah?" He laughed.

But I didn't feel like playing. "You can cram your happy festival, you big meanie!" I angrily walked out of the cockpit, and I found a place to cry, just broken off a corridor.

"_Rammu?"_ (Hello) I heard a voice say down the corridor. _"Fru ec faabehk?"_ (Who is weeping?) I heard steps coming toward me. Then, someone leaned down to see me.

"Mr. Rin?"

"Little Rikku! Why are you crying? Is it because of Home?"

"A little."

"You know we'll build a new one."

"But I just don't understand why Father, who worked so hard to get this Home built, would laugh as he blows it up."

"I think I know one reason."

"What's that?"

Rin smiled. "You're not in it."

"Huh?"

"To know that you were here on the airship safe and sound, that would make him very joyful."

"You think so?"

"Oh yes, Rikku. You know you are the apple of your father's eye, you and your brother. You are more precious to him than Home."

I buried my head and started to cry more.

"Now, why are you crying?"

"Someone hurt my feelings a little bit ago. He . . . well, Mr. Rin, have you ever knew someone very well, someone you looked up to, and you found out that they hated the Al Bhed?"

"Oh, many people. Why, I am sure every day, people around Spira boycott my store."

"No, I'm not just talking about customers. I mean someone really close, someone you really liked as a friend."

"Oh. Oh, yes. That has happened a few times. It probably happens to every Al Bhed who leaves Home."

"What do you do?"

"I don't talk about being Al Bhed!"

"So, you're not proud of who you are?"

"I didn't say that! But when I talk to others, it is not about me. It is about them. So, I talk to them about their interests, like Blitzball or chocobo breeding or the weather." He chuckled. "Except when I'm on the Thunder Plains where the weather never changes! I just try to keep them talking. I do not force my beliefs on them, and they do not force theirs on me. But if I am truly concerned that they are in the wrong, I will tell them so gently, as a friend. There have been times that I have sat down with teachers of Yevon with a copy of the teachings, and we read and reason together. I acknowledge that I do not fully understand the teachings, and they end up acknowledging the same. So we work together to find the truth. You see?"

"I think so."

"What did your friend say?"

"Well, when Father blew up Home, he laughed and said it was like fireworks. How could he say that? It's where I used to live!"

"Oh. I see why that would hurt. Still, that doesn't sound hateful."

"Yeah, I know he was trying to cheer me up."

"Don't be too hard on him. He didn't lose his home, remember?"

"That's true."

"Besides, think of it this way. No one was hurt–at least, not by the explosion. The Guado attack was a tragedy, but everyone who survived was able to board the airship, even those who were not Al Bhed. Home is really no more than brick, mortar, and machina. Since no one else was hurt, it was like a fireworks display."

"That's right! I hadn't thought of it that way before. Thank you, Mr. Rin. I feel better now."

"Good," he nodded with a smile. He stood back up. "If any of your friends need to purchase anything, I have a few goods. I'll make sure I save the profits to go toward a new Home."

"Tidus is the one with the gil. I'll tell him."

"Thank you." He started to walk away, but then he turned around. "By the way, I got that message to your father, but I believe by then, he already knew."

"You're probably right." One thing I probably need to do is explain what happened. I wiped away my tears and went back to the cockpit.

I got there at the worst time. Auron was arguing with Father. I don't think I ever heard him so angry. "After rescuing Yuna, then what? You want to keep her safe, correct? Would you seek to stop her pilgrimage?" That's when I understood. This is was what they were fighting about! It must have been because of Braska! Father was trying to stop Braska's pilgrimage! Auron was Braska's guardian, so when Father tried to stop Braska, Auron tried to stop him. And now, they are about to have the same fight over Yunie! But wait, what were they doing at Home? Father always makes a point of saying that it wasn't part of the pilgrimage. Did Father bring Braska Home? And where was Jecht in all of this?

"Of course!" Father yelled back. "If she continues this fool pilgrimage, she will die, sure as if you killed her yourself! No hair-brained law or teaching can send my little niece to death! When I save her, I'll make her give up being a summoner quicker than a desert melts ice!"

"Even against he will?"

"Better than a dog's death! And I'll take down ANYONE who don't agree!"

Oh no, it's going to happen again! I braced myself.

But Auron turned around. "You are the captain."

"Good! Then it's settled!"

I don't know why Auron backed off, but I just glad he did. He walked off the bridge, but before he walked out the doors, he stopped and looked at me. Before I could ask why, the doors opened, and he walked out.

I moved up to the helm and stood behind Brother. "So, what's it like, being a pilot?"

"Complicated," he answered. "But fun."

I looked around at the controls and the screens he had around him. "It looks complicated." I sighed. Where was I going to go from here? "There was a very good machina you built at Macalania."

"I had help."

"Oh. It was still very good. Brother, I don't think you understood why I was there, fighting on the other side. I hope you weren't too angry with me."

"I was, a little. The only thing I knew for sure was that you had failed in your mission. That's why Father sent me to get Yuna. There were rumors that you were traveling with her, but I did not believe them. Sister, why are you guarding her?"

"She asked me to, and I thought the best way to bring her Home was to be close to her and to convince her to stop."

"How far would you have gone? Would you have gone to Zanarkand?"

"No! I was going to have a serious talk with her at some point, maybe in Bevelle. I wonder, Brother, why were you trying to stop her wedding? I thought when she was married to Maester Seymour, she would be safe."

"Father spoke to Maester Seymour after Operation Mi'hen. Father was furious with him, and then the Guado had the audacity to ask for Yuna's hand. Father tried to make him swear that he would stop her pilgrimage first, but Maester Seymour refused. That is when they became enemies. I think Father was thinking about when our aunt married Braska."

"He didn't want to make the same mistake."

"Yes."

"Brother, do you forgive me?"

"What about the other guardians? They sound mad. Are they for us or against us?"

"I think they're for us. One of them, at least, wants to find a way that we can defeat Sin and keep Yuna from dying. I hope he does."

"He was the young man we found at Baaj, is he?"

"Yes, he is."

"I thought so. He keeps coming over to talk to me, even when I tell him I have to concentrate!"

"Yeah," I laughed. "He likes to talk to people like that."

"He's still a _vuum._" But he said it with a smile.

"Maybe he is," I said with a laugh.

"But sometimes, _vuumc yna fecan dryh feca sah." _(That's another Al Bhed proverb, "Fools are wiser than wise men.") "I forgive you, Sister."

"Thank you, Brother. _E muja oui."_ (I love you.)

Brother sighed and said in a tone like he didn't really want to say it, _"E muja oui, duu."_

Then, I turned around. Father was looking at the Oscillating Sphere Grid. "Father, I want to talk to you about why I went with Yuna."

He turned and looked at me. "There is no need, _tayn."_

"Didn't you think I was betraying the Al Bhed?"

"I know you better than that. To tell you the truth, I was grateful. The first report I heard was that you were dead. That's what Buddy told me, that you blew up with the machina. Then that snake Seymour sent a message to gloat that he was going to marry Yuna against my wishes, and he mentioned that you were traveling with her as a guardian. It didn't take me long to figure out why."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I wasn't surprised at all that you wanted to travel with Yuna. When you were little, you two were like peas in a pod!"

"We were?"

"That's right. Don't you remember?"

"Nuh-uhh," I said shaking my head.

"Well, you were a very little girl, about 3, 4, 5. Yuna came Home sometimes when she was on vacation from her studies in Bevelle. I remember, I was trying to teach you the human language, but you kept getting it mixed up with Al Bhed. So you kept calling her 'Yuny.'"

"Oh, so that's why! Why did she stop coming?"

"Because of Braska."

"Oh."

"And when her mother died, she moved far away to Besaid."

"Why? We don't have any family in Besaid."

"I heard that the Ronso who is traveling with her now is the one who took her there."

"Kimhari? Why would he do that?"

"I don't know."

"She should have come back here! We would have adopted her, would we?"

"Perhaps. But I know you would never abandon us, _tayn._ You always keep your promises. _E muja oui."_

_"E muja oui duu, Tytto_."

Father smiled. "You haven't called me _Tytto _in years!" He ran his fingers in my hair. "You look tired."

"Well, fighting all those fiends took a lot out of me."

"Let me show you to my quarters. You can take a nap."

"That would be nice."

He looked toward the helm. "_Cuh, oui yna eh lrynka!"_ (Son, you are in charge)

"Uh, _oac cen!" _I laughed. Somehow, Brother's "in charge" voice was not very encouraging.

I didn't get any sleep–at least, I don't think I did. But I was refreshed. I was about to receive a new perspective which would give me more clarity than ever. What happened in that fifteen minutes changed everything.


	8. The Lost Sphere

Chapter 8: The Lost Sphere

Father led me down a corridor where all the Psychs were practicing, then we down a stairwell. At the bottom was a small room with a bed. "I know it's not much, but I hope it will do," Father said.

"It looks fine," I nodded. "It looks very comfortable." I sat down, took off my shoes and the tails on the back of my shirt, and rested my head on the pillow.

Father tucked me in. He didn't have to do that, but it felt very nice. _"Nacd famm, tayn."_ (Rest well) "I'll lock the door so you won't be disturbed, and I'll let you know when we find Yuna."

_"Dryhg oui, Vydran. Kuuthekrd."_ (Goodnight)

_"Kuuthekrd."_ Father turned off the light and closed the door.

I nestled down under the covers and closed my eyes. The mattress was hard, and the blankets were kinda scratchy, but it felt so good to be laying down. I was really tired. I think I was just about at that place between being awake and being asleep when–

"Rikku."

I gasped and sat up straight in the bed. Standing by my bedside was none other than–

"Auron?" I stuttered for a while as I was trying to figured out what was going on. I finally manage to get out, "I thought the door was locked!"

"My apologies," he replied. "I have something for you."

"For me?"

"It is rather personal, so I was waiting for you to be apart from the group."

"Well, that doesn't explain how you–"

But as I was talking, he was pulling something out of his cloak. He handed it to me with his good arm. "I found this on Bikanel Island, just outside your Home."

He was holding a movie sphere. I took it from his hand and looked closely at the design. It looked a little more worn than other spheres I've seen. One side was even cracked. "Isn't this one of Jecht's spheres? I thought you wanted Tidus to find these."

"This one will benefit you more than it will him. It's the eleventh sphere."

"I thought you said there were only ten."

"The other ten were placed strategically around Spira. This one was lost. Frankly, I thought it was destroyed."

"Why?"

"You'll see. Play it."

So, I turned it on. As it flickered, the first image it showed was a pan of the Sanubia Desert. I heard Jecht's voice say, "So, this is where your wife is from?"

"That's right," Braska's voice answered.

"Man, what a dump," Jecht muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Uh, I mean it's not my cup of tea. I like my sand with a little bit of ocean, thank you very much." Suddenly the image zoomed in on Qactuar hopping up and laughing. "Ooh! A Qactuar! Auron, getitgetitgetitgetitgetit!" Young Auron started chasing it with his sword in the air, but the little fiend got away. "Ha ha! Too slow, Joe!" Jecht laughed.

"Well, I didn't see you going after it!" Auron yelled at him.

"Hey, I learned my lesson last time." The images flickered a little bit, and then it settled into a picture of Home, the way it used to be. Parts of it still looked under construction, though. I felt a lump in my throat. "So, this is where she grew up?"

"About half of her life, yeah," Braska answered. "The Al Bhed call it _Rusa,_ which simply means, 'Home.'"

"I like that. _Rusa,_ it's kinda pretty."

"I'm telling you, Braska, this is a waste of time!" The camera turned to young Auron facing Braska with a face full of anger. "There's nothing here! No temples, no maesters, no Chambers of the Fayth! Just some sand and a big, unfinished house. Do you realize that we could have gotten to Bevelle two days sooner without this little detour?"

"AURON!" Braska shouted over him. "There may not be anything pertinent to our pilgrimage, but stopping here to see my wife's Home is just as important to me as visiting Bevelle or any temple. Hey, it's just as important to me as going to Zanarkand."

"Yeah, man, have a heart!" Jecht said.

"Well, why can't it wait until after Bevelle?" Auron asked.

"It's very important that I try to make amends before I turn my face to Zanarkand," Braska answered. "You don't know the Al Bhed as well as I do. They may seem like terrorists, but they are actually–"

"BRASKA, LOOK OUT!" Jecht screamed. The images focused just beyond Braska's shoulder at an Al Bhed soldier with a mask running toward him. Braska quickly ducked down, but the Al Bhed grabbed him and started shouting phrases I couldn't make out. Auron quickly drew his sword. The images scrambled again and faded out.

When they came back, the first thing I saw was a very closed in close-up of Jecht's face. "Check this out! We're about to kick some Al Bhed keister!" He got up and ran next to Auron, who was already in battle position. There were three Al Bhed, and one of them was Father.

"What have you done with Braska?" Auron demanded.

"Taken him someplace where YOU can't get to him!" Father yelled back.

Jecht ran forward and with a loud battle cry struck down one of the Al Bhed soldiers in one blow. The other Al Bhed shot him with a machina rifle. Jecht groaned and fell down. Auron reached into his cloak. "Rats! Out of Phoenix Downs."

"Surrender?" Father asked.

"Never!" Auron yelled. He quickly struck at the other Al Bhed guard. Then, he turned all of his attention on Father. It was just like the vision I saw after Sin came. Father struck at Auron with his machina, and Auron kept fighting back. Father kept using his machina to block his attacks.

But unlike Sin's vision, Braska suddenly came in. "Auron! AURON! Stay your hand!" Auron looked back at him for a moment, but then he kept fighting. "This is my brother-in-law, Auron! He's the whole reason I came down here!"

"He just captured you! He must pay the ultimate price!" So, Auron continued. Then, just like in the vision, he sliced through Father's weapon. He raised his sword high over his head and said, "Farewell."

"STOP!" Auron suddenly froze. Braska blocked Father with his summoning staff. Then, he stepped in between them and pointed the staff at Auron. "Stop, or I will summon one of my aeons to attack you," he said in the same, cold tone that Auron always uses.

"But Braska–"

"Let me handle this, Auron!" Then he said more gently, "For my wife's sake. For Yuna's sake." Young Auron breathed a very deep, angry sigh, then dropped the sword to his side as the spell wore off.

"Well, that's one exaggeration," I said aloud, and present Auron quickly shushed me.

Braska pointed his staff to Jecht. "Life!" His staff glowed white and surrounded Jecht with an orange glow. Jecht then sat up.

"What's going on? It's the battle over already?" he asked groggily.

"Yes, in a matter of speaking," young Auron answered, annoyed.

Jecht looked up. "Huh? Braska? How'd you get out?"

"I asked the guards to give me a chance to speak to my brother-in-law," Braska answered.

"That's who this guy is? Why didn't you say something?"

"It doesn't matter who he is," Auron answered. "He kidnaped the summoner! It's our responsibility as guardians to make sure he pays!"

"Well, of course it is!"

"Jecht, Auron, you're not helping," Braska said sharply. He closed the door behind him, then came forward and approached Father. "Cid, _bmayca ced tufh_" (please sit down).

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's that gibberish?" Jecht said, rising to his feet.

"It's the Al Bhed language. I think he'll be more comfortable if I speak it to him."

Father, who was still standing, said, _"Ruf tu oui ghuf Al Bhed?"_ (How do you know Al Bhed)

_"Ouin cecdan dyikrd ed du sa."_ (Your sister taught it to me.)

Father started to turn purple. "My sister?! Why are you bringing her into this? Why did you marry her? Why did you have a kid with her?"

"Because I love her."

"Ha! You love her? You got a funny way of showing love! You marry her, you have a kid with her, and then you leave the poor girl alone to go to Zanarkand and die? How can that possibly be love?!"

"Cid, why don't you understand? I am going to Zanarkand BECAUSE I love her!"

I gasped. I have never heard an argument like that before.

"Preposterous! What kind of love is that?"

"Cid, I love her so deeply. I love her with every beat of my heart. And it would destroy me, it would break my heart if Sin ever destroyed her. So I am willing to give my heart to Sin so that it won't harm her. Why don't you understand?"

"You're cheating Yuna out of a father!"

"We will meet again on the Farplane one day. She understands. She is looking forward to that day."

"Alright. I can see you have good intentions. But we both know that no matter what you do, Sin is going to come back. Is that really worth dying for?"

"It'll be gone long enough for Yuna to grow up to be a healthy young woman. I say, yes. It is definitely worth dying for."

"Why does it have to be this way? Why do you have to die just to make Spira happy?"

"You know the teachings, Cid. A summoner who dies for love does not need a sending. Such a summoner will never return to Spira as a fiend because that soul could not bear to hurt another." Braska started crying. "I'm not just doing this for Yuna, you know. I'm doing it for you, for your wife and children, for Auron and Jecht, for the Al Bhed, the Ronso, the Guado, for everyone in Spira! Because I can't bear for any of them to be hurt by Sin. I know in this one continent, there are thousands of fathers who feel the same way."

"Ha! You see them jumping up to go die in Zanarkand? No, they just let you be their scapegoat."

"They may not be 'jumping up.' Maybe some of them are afraid or proud. But you'd be surprised how many would do it in a heartbeat. I want to lift the veil of sorrow off of this continent. We need peace and unity. If my death, my sacrifice, can serve as an example to the people of Spira that they may obtain these, so be it. Think about it, Cid. If you could give your life so that your children can live in a world where they won't be hated because of the pattern in their eyes, wouldn't you?"

Father didn't answer, and I couldn't blame him. I have never heard it put that way. I started to appreciate what Yuna was trying to do. It didn't seem selfish or foolish or wrong, the way I'd been taught all my life. It still wasn't good. I didn't want Yunie to die, but to know that heart beat in her, that she's willing to do that for me, for everyone, made me cry bittersweet tears.

"Over the years," Braska said, "I think we as a people have forgotten the meaning of the Yevon prayer. Do you know it?"

Father shook his head. "I'm not really interested, Bras–"

"Please, brother-in-law. This is why I've come here. I've come to pray for you." He stepped back and raised his arms in a circle. "May Yevon bless you and all your household." Then he cupped his hands and bowed. "And may Yevon forgive you of all of your sins," and he stood up and up his cupped hands and finished, "so that one day, we will see Sin no more." It impressed me that he recited that whole prayer completely in Al Bhed. He must have really cared about us.

Father sighed. "Get out of my sight."

"So, you are going to let me continue my pilgrimage?"

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I MEAN IT, BRASKA, I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Just then, the door opened, and a little girl came in. It was me. "Daddy?"

"Rikku? Why aren't you in bed?"

"I can't sleep."

Braska approached me. "That was my fault. I'm sorry."

But I looked at Father. "No, it was Brother. He's making those noises again!"

Braska came closer to me. "Let me take you to bed, little Rikku."

"Braska," Auron said harshly.

"It's alright, Auron. I know what I'm doing."

"You are summoner Braska?" I asked.

"Yes, I am Yuna's father." He came closer and picked me up, put me on his shoulder.

"Let her go! Put her down!" Father demanded, pounding on his desk.

"Please don't be mad, brother-in-law," Braska answered. "I know a good lullaby that will put her right to sleep." He looked at me. "Say goodnight."

I waved. "Goodnight, Daddy."

Braska looked at Father with deep, legitimate concern. "Take care of her." Then, he walked out with me in his arms and closed the door.

Father looked at guardians and said in human language, "Both of you, get out of here! Go to Zanarkand and never come back!"

"We better go," young Auron said to Jecht. He started walking out.

"Yeah, I heard." Jecht stood up, swung his arms for a moment, then headed for the door. But before he walked out, he turned to Father and said, "Cute kid. Makes me wish I had a daughter."

Father just growled, and Jecht exited. Then Father looked toward the movie sphere, walked over, and kicked it. Everything faded to white, and it shut off.

Auron looked at me. "That's when I grew."

"You understood what they were saying?"

"I learned Al Bhed a long time ago. I find it's easier to understand everyone."

"Why don't you ever speak it?"

_"Fru cyoc E tuh'd?" _(Who says I don't?)

I laughed a little. "But Jecht didn't understand, did he?"

"No. Braska had to explain it to him. I think that's when it started to sink in for him, too. But now do you understand why I had to fight your father?"

"Yes, I do."

"And do you understand why Yuna must do what she must do?"

"I do, but I still don't understand why it has to be this way. I don't want Yunie to die!"

"No one does."

"But now, I feel guilty for feeling that way, like it's selfish."

"Maybe it is."

"Why didn't my Father ever tell me the truth about this?"

"Because he is proud. He does not want to admit that he was humiliated by love. He does not want to admit that he would have done the same as Braska."

"I wish Spira could appreciate that level of love that Braska and Yunie have."

"Not all summoners have it. Dona, the other female summoner, seems her only wish is to defeat Sin for fame. Isaaru, the young man, is evidently journeying for his own confidence's sake and to make brothers proud. It's not required in the teachings for summoners to love Spira that much, but it is usually the summoners who love that make it to Zanarkand."

"But Yunie–?"

"Oh yes."

"Why is it that Yevon wants those kind of summoners? Why is it he demands for their blood? Wouldn't it be better for such people to be alive? They can be an example to everyone in Spira. Staying true to Yevon might not have anything to do with whether or not you use forbidden machina. If we all learn to love each other the way that Braska and Yunie love Spira, maybe then we will atone ourselves, and Sin will disappear. The only trouble is . . . we keep hating each other."

"That's . . . part of it."

"Why does Yevon do this to us? Does he love us? Does he care?"

"Sometimes, I find myself asking the same questions."

"Maybe you still do have some growing to do."

"Perhaps." I thought I saw him smile.

Just then, the radio crackled, and I heard Father's voice. "Rikku! Rikku! _Yna oui yfyga_?" (Are you awake)

_"Oac, Vydran,"_ I answered

"_Lusa xielgmo, fa vuiht_ Yuna!" (Come quickly, we found Yuna!)

"_Lusehk!"_ (Coming) I looked at Auron. "Let's go!"

--

When we got to the bridge, Brother was showing Father a visual of Yuna. She looked beautiful. He hair was up, and she was in a lovely white dress and carrying a bouquet of red roses.

And at her side was Seymour.

"Where was that?" Tidus asked.

"The Palace of St. Bevelle, Heart of Yevon," Lulu explained.

Father was reluctant, but Tidus encouraged him to set course for Bevelle. Meanwhile, I was just thinking over everything Auron and I had talked about and seeing Seymour there. So I asked Auron, "What's Seymour doing alive? Didn't we take care of him in Macalania?"

"He is dead," he answered, "as dead as Jyscal was. His attachment to this world kept him from the next."

"Whoa, scary!"

"Yuna must be trying to send him."

"Wonder if that will work?"

"Perhaps he won't be expecting it."

"Do you think that maybe the same will be true for the kind of summoners we talked about? I mean, if they really loved this world, maybe they will be attached to it."

Auron shrugged. "It could happen."

"So, there maybe hope for Yunie?"

"I said it could happen. That doesn't mean it will happen."

That didn't really answer my question. Perhaps that was Auron's way of saying he didn't know.

_"So tayn,"_ Father said, "_tet oui cmaab famm?"_ (Did you sleep well)

"No, not really. At least, I don't think I did." I left a possibility that what I just saw was a dream.

"We're going to face a tough battle soon. Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes, Father. I do feel better."

Suddenly, the ship shook. Rin ran into the bridge. "We are being attacked from within. Some of the Guado that attacked Home must have snuck on board."

"You're awfully calm about it!" Father grumbled.

"I am calm about most things," Rin answered.

I started to wonder why the fiends waited until now to attack. We've been on the ship for about an hour now.

"Fiends!" Father yelled. "There's nothing to do but–"

I knew what he was going to say, so I said it for him, "–but destroy the ship and all go down together!" I shook my head and laughed a little to myself. I wonder if Father started to see how lame that plan of action is. "You gotta learn a little restraint, Pop. If you crash the ship, we can't go rescue Yunie! Leave the fiends to us professionals!"

As we were leaving the bridge, Rin stopped me and said encouragingly, "Rikku, you've made some very good friends, I think. Good luck."

_"Dryhg, oui,_ Mr. Rin!"

From there, we just pushed through every corridor, fighting fiends. We were kinda used to this by now, so it didn't seem too hard. As we got to the end of the ship, we looked out the window and saw a huge dragon-like fiend. Lulu said it was Bevelle's protector, Evrae. Father came on the intercom. "Rikku, you read me?" he said in human language. "We're gonna fight that thing! Get on deck and show 'em what you got!"

I shook my head. He's still gotta be gung-ho. "There he goes again."

"The ferryman asks a high price," Auron said in an ironic tone. I guess that was his idea of a joke.

We got on the deck. Father informed us to give commands of whether or not to move the ship farther away. I gave the commands to him in Al Bhed, and Tidus gave them in his language. We basically learned when the monster was going into its special attack, and that's when we ordered to pull away. The monster was kinda crafty, though. Sometimes when we pulled away, he made a flying attack to fly close to us again. We brought it down, eventually though.

The ship was starting to lose power, and we were crashing. We infiltrated Bevelle by skidding on wires from the ship. That was kinda fun. The moment we got off, we were confronted with tough machina and soldiers with machina guns. It didn't take long, though, before we came to the front.

Yuna, in her lovely wedding dress, suddenly held off a summoning staff. Seymour smirked. "You would play at marriage just for a chance to send me? Your resolve is admirable, all the more fitting to be my lovely wife."

"Stop!" Maester Mika, who was also standing with them, ordered. "Do you not value your friends' lives? Your actions determine their fate. Protect them, or throw them away. The choice is yours."

I couldn't believe those words came from the leader of all Spira. Why doesn't he love Spira the way that she does? Why won't he care for his citizens? But then I saw a demonstration of Yuna's love for us. She dropped the staff.

"You are wise," Seymour said. Then, he put his hands on her shoulders, came nearer and nearer, and then he kissed her. There was something about that kiss that did not seem real. It was frightening, in a way. Yuna knew it too; I saw her clench her fist. Then Seymour released himself from her, and he looked as us and said in an offhand way, "Kill them."

Maesters and monks surrounded us with guns. Then, there was another demonstration of love from Yuna, one I believe was rewarded. "No!" she yelled in a threatening voice. "Throw down your weapons! Let them go, or else!" She took a few steps back to the very edge of the platform. Then, she urged us to leave.

"You're coming with us!" Tidus yelled.

"Don't worry, go!" she instructed.

"This is foolish!" Seymour sneered. "If you fall, you'll die!"

Yuna angrily wiped his cold kiss from her lips. Then she looked at us and whispered, "Don't worry. I can fly. Believe."

Without really knowing why, I found myself mouthing, "I believe, Yunie."

She stepped back and fell, and though she didn't have her summoning staff, she summoned Valefor to catch her. The only thing I can think of that did this was that Yevon blessed her for her love for us and for our faith in her. Why did he do it now? Why won't he spare her in the Final Summoning, but he will now?

There wasn't much time to think about it. "Cover your eyes!" I ordered my friends and threw a flash bomb. We used it to escape Seymour and our attackers.

I never told anybody, but I remember thinking that there was one thing that Seymour said was true, "To defeat Sin, it took an unbreakable bond of love—the kind that binds two hearts for eternity." The weird thing was he didn't love Yuna. I don't believe he did. I don't know how Yuna felt about him, but she loved Spira and all its people. It was that unbreakable bond of love that could conquer Sin. I will always be grateful for Yuna's love for Spira and for all of her guardians. My experience in Bevelle taught me how precious and rare such a love is.


	9. Prisoner of Yevon

Chapter 9: Prisoner of Yevon

We all knew that Yunie was heading for the Chamber of the Fayth to get her next aeon, so that's what we began searching for. In the first tower we came to, I found something curious inside the door. It was unmistakably a machina panel. I'll never forget Wakka's face when he saw it. He was completely beside himself that forbidden machina was inside a holy temple of Yevon. "The teachings! What about the teachings?" he yelled.

I shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me." The panel controlled a lift going down a long, spiraling stairway. We took it. Then there was more machina, controlling a force field.

"So, this is Yevon's true face," Auron observed. "They betray their own teachings." I was a little surprised that he acted like he just now realized this. Wasn't the machina here when he last came to Bevelle?

But then I heard Wakka say very softly, "They treated us like dirt." I looked at him, impressed. It sounded like for the first time, he was starting to open his mind. I didn't mention, after we got past the force field, that I saw an Al Bhed primer on the floor. So I guess someone in the temple is trying to learn the language of the "heathens." Ha!

The Cloister of Trials was a lot harder here than it was in Macalania. It felt like it took hours to figure out. Something about it also felt a lot more machina-based. I wish I had more expertise with it, though, but it kept making me dizzy.

We finally made it to the Chamber of the Fayth, but we didn't find Yunie. The door to the inner chamber was closed, and we all figured she was inside, praying for her aeon. Tidus was really impatient and started to open the door. Everyone knew that was taboo, but Wakka seemed to be the only one who cared. I guess we saw so many taboos in the temple already that we figured another one couldn't hurt any more. Kimhari even helped Tidus open the door. We could hear the Fayth singing inside, so the rest of us knew Yunie was there.

"Hey," I said. "Where's Auron? Has anybody seen Auron?"

"You know, I think we lost him in the Cloister of Trials," Lulu said.

"You think he might be stuck back there?"

"Rikku worry not for Auron," Kimhari said.

"That's right," Wakka said. "He's Sir Auron. He can take care of himself, yah?"

I could her marching feet of the monks approaching. "True, but I'm just starting to wish he was with us," I replied.

"Why's that?" Lulu said.

Just then, the door broke down, and a number of warrior monks pointed guns at us. "Wait! Don't come out!" I warned Tidus and Yuna, but it was too late.

Maester Kinoc came forward. "That's the last of them," he said. "You are to stand trial."

Then, I heard Auron's chuckle. I turned around and saw him behind Tidus and Yuna. "I expect it will be a fair trial?" he said.

"Of course it will," the maester replied with a smirk.

The monks pushed us into the hall of judgment with their guns. Maybe to get my mind off of my impending doom, I only preoccupied myself with one train of thought. "How did he get back there? Did anybody see him go back there? Could he go back there? Why was he back there?" I tried to voice some of these questions, but a warrior monk ordered me to be quiet.

Yuna stood in the middle of the floor in her usual dress robes. We stood on the sidelines. Maester Kelk Ronso served as our judge. It was an unbelievable trial. First, they accused Yunie of harming Maester Seymour (they didn't mention she killed him). Then they accused her of conspiring with the Al Bhed. Why? Just because I was one of her guardians? Did they accuse Braska of the same since he married an Al Bhed? And what about their own use of Al Bhed ideas?

Yuna simply answered that Seymour was the true one who should be on trial because he killed his father and that he was unsent. She implored Maester Mika to send him. He came forward and chuckled ironically. "Send the dead?" he answered. Then, to all of our surprise, he was surrounded by pyreflies. "You will have to send me too!" The maesters explained their true belief–that life is fleeting, but death is eternal. They preferred the guidance of a dead leader to an inexperienced living one. Maester Mika continued, "Men die, beasts die, trees die, even continents perish. Only the power of death truly commands Spira. Resisting its power is futile."

"But what about love?" I spoke up. "Why won't you let the power of love command Spira?"

"How dare you, Al Bhed traitor, speak in the presence of Yevon?" Maester Kelk roared.

"Your words fall on deaf ears in these hallowed walls!" Maester Mika answered.

"But you know it's true!" I continued. "The power of love is stronger, isn't it?"

"SILENCE, HEATHEN!" all the maesters said at once, including Seymour.

"Who are you to silence her?" Wakka yelled back. "You use machina in this very temple and betray your own teachings! You . . . you . . . YOU ARE HYPOCRITES!"

"Do not question what you do not understand, young man!" Maester Kinoc answered.

"I've understood the teachings since I was a boy, and I know–!"

"That's enough!" Maester Mika interrupted. "Another such outburst, and I will throw you our of the courtroom!"

I turned to Auron and tugged on his coat. "Please, Auron, you tell them. They'll listen to you!"

"Shh!" he whispered. "Let the summoner defend herself."

"What of Sin?" Yuna asked. "I am a summoner, my lord, like my father before me. I am on a pilgrimage to stop the death that Sin brings. Are you telling me that, too, is futile? Grand Maester Mika, I am not alone! All the people who have opposed Sin, their battles, their sacrifices, were they all in vain?"

"Not in vain," Maester Mika answered. "No matter how many summoners give their lives, Sin cannot be defeated. The rebirth cannot be stopped. Yet the courage of those who fight gives the people hope. There is nothing futile in the life and death of a summoner." That answer troubled me. They only care about hope, not the summoner's love for us. And even if the summoner loved, it was all for nothing because Sin comes back.

"Never futile, but never ending," Auron noted.

"Indeed, that is the essence of Yevon," Maester Mika answered. "Yevon is embodied by eternal, unchanging continuity, summoner," he said to Yuna.

"No, that can't be right!" she answered.

"Those who question these truths, THEY ARE TRAITORS!"

So, that was our crime. We refused to recognize and respect the power of death in Spira. Why could they not understand, there is a better way? Who will tell them?

I was put in a cell with Lulu. I still had that ball that I played with outside the Farplane, and I pulled it out. I knew trying to escape would be hopeless.

"Do you really believe what you were saying in there?" Lulu asked. "About love?"

"I'm trying to believe it," I answered.

"You sure changed your tune since Home."

"Yeah, well, Auron and I had a talk about his first pilgrimage. I never understood that summoners could love Spira so much, and that's why they sacrifice themselves. Now, I don't understand why none of these leaders want to even consider it. Spira . . . can really use a lot more love."

"I agree. You've been hated for so long. You must know that hate is also powerful."

"Yeah, exactly."

"Um, Rikku, there's something I need to tell you. About Wakka."

"What about him?"

"He had a younger brother named Chappu. Last year, Chappu joined the Crusaders. Wakka gave him a sword, but Chappu refused it and fought with a machina weapon. The Crusaders had a battle with Sin in cooperation with the Al Bhed, much like Operation Mi'hen, and Chappu . . .we found his body on the Djose shore."

"Oh, I remember. Tidus once told me that the sword he fights with was Chappu's sword."

"That's right. Tidus remind Wakka of Chappu, and he gave that sword to Tidus before we left."

"I ought to tell Wakka that it's a beautiful weapon. I think it's extra-special too."

"He'd like that. But anyway, Wakka can deny it as much as he wants, but I think that's the real reason that he hates machina, that he hates the Al Bhed. He blames them for Chappu's death."

"That's awful."

"I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't judge him too harshly."

"No, I understand. Machina killed my mother. There are sometimes I wonder why we Al Bhed make machina fiends and why so much machina is designed to be destructive. It's like . . . we're no better than Sin."

"You shouldn't think that! From what I can see, the maesters are more like Sin. All they want is death."

"But this is the whole reason we need to learn to love, so we'll stop killing each other!"

"Something tells me that's exactly what the maesters want."

"I don't get it! Do they want this world to be overridden with fiends?"

"Perhaps they do. It's hard to tell."

"Say, Lulu, how do you think Auron got into the Chamber of the Fayth?"

"I don't know. I didn't see him go in. He must have gone ahead of us when we were getting that last treasure chest."

"But the door wasn't open. Kimhari had to open it, remember?"

"Auron is strong enough that he can open it himself and close it behind him."

"But why was he in there?"

"He must have wanted to give Yuna special protection."

"But I thought he wasn't supposed to go back in there!"

"Neither was Tidus, but nobody stopped him."

Somehow, what Lulu said made sense, but something still seemed to be off. I guess I kept thinking about when he got through that locked door on the airship. Even though I knew for sure that Auron was on my side now, there was still something about him that made me feel uneasy.

Then, warrior monks came to our cell, unlocked it, and pushed us out with guns. Lulu and I went in opposite directions. The monks took me to a body of water, laughed at me, spat at me, and slapped me. They may have wanted to do more, I don't know. Finally, they pushed me into the water and left. Well, joke's on them; I'm a good swimmer.

"Hey Rikku, is'at you?" I swam over to the voice. It was Wakka. "You ok?"

"I've been better," I sighed. "But I'll get by. I always do."

"I just saw what those jerks did. That was uncalled for."

"It happens. That's what people who hate Al Bhed do."

For once, Wakka was completely speechless. He stammered a little. I just smiled. "It's OK. I know you're not like that, yah?" I giggled. He laughed back.

"Looks like you're next!" a voice echoed down the hall.

"Next for what?" Tidus's voice answered. Just shortly after, we heard a big splash. We swam to where it came from, and there was Tidus.

"Oooh, you made it!" Wakka said giving him a high five.

"What's our sentence?" Tidus asked.

"Think they just expect us to give up and die down here."

"Well, that's a lame way to kill someone."

I agreed, but all I wanted was to find Yunie. We decided to dive down and look for an exit. We went down one corridor underwater and were confronted with another dragon, a lot like Evrae. The battle started tough, but then I noticed that something was off about this creature. I looked closer at my sensor readings and saw that it was a zombie. So, I cast Regan on it, and it was just like poisoning it. I fed it a Hi-Potion, an Al Bhed Potion, and even an Elixir, and it just collapsed. That was that. There wasn't a whole bunch of other underwater fiends, so we just swam until we found a way out.

Luckily when we got there, Yuna and the others were there to greet us. I gave her a big hug. "Are you alright? We were so worried! It's good to have you back!"

"Thank you," she answered.

But then, Seymour started coming toward us, and Maester Kinoc appeared to be with him. Once Seymour came to us, however, he threw the maester down. He was dead. We all looked at him in shock. Seymour's argument for killing the maester was cold, twisted, and somehow logical. Seymour believed that in killing Maester Kinoc, he was saving from worry because there was no such concern on the Farplane. He turned to Yuna and said, "Death is a sweet slumber. All the pain of life is gently swept away. So you see, if all life were to end on Spira, all suffering would end. Don't you see? Do you not agree? That, Yuna, is why I need you. Come, Lady Yuna, come with me to Zanarkand, the lost city of the dead. With death on our side, we will save Spira, and for this I will take from you your strength, Yuna, your life, and become the next Sin!"

"But Seymour!" I yelled back, "What about–"

"–love?" Seymour laughed so coldly. "Miss Rikku, why does your simple mind not conceive this logic? Death IS love!"

"How, how can it be?"

"Don't you see, Miss Rikku? In the thralls of death, you will find no hatred, only blissful rest."

"That's fine talk from somebody who won't rest after dying!" Auron chided.

Seymour laughed again, even colder and louder. "Be that as it may, it is only through destroying Spira that I may save it!" Kimhari ran forward and stabbed Seymour with his lance. Seymour looked down at him with disgust. "Unpleasant," he said coldly. "Very well. I shall also save you from the pain of life, if that is what you desire."

"Go!" Auron ordered.

"No way, I'm fighting!" Tidus said.

"I said GO!"

So we ran down to the exit, but just as we were about to get out, we stopped.

"I'm not leaving Kimhari behind!" Yuna said.

"He's a guardian," Auron said. "Protecting you is everything."

"But we're all guardians!" Tidus said. "You know what that means, Yuna? Wherever you go, I'll follow."

"Anywhere I go?" she asked.

"That's right!"

"Then let's go!" And she and Tidus turned around. The rest of us followed, but Auron was still reluctant. I'm still not sure why he didn't want to fight. When we turned on Seymour, he gave it his all, saying it was for Maester Kinoc, his friend. The battle with Seymour was long and hard because he kept healing himself, and this time there was nothing I could steal that was doing it. Still, though, we took him down. Yuna still didn't have a chance to send him. As soon as he went down, we ran for our lives.

We made it to a spot in the Macalania Woods. Auron left us in this little campsite. Kimhari and Yuna left soon after. Auron came back.

"Well?" Wakka asked.

"We're all clear," Auron answered. "We should avoid Bevelle in the future. Yuna?"

"She said she wanted to be alone," I answered.

"Of course," he nodded.

Tidus seemed a little antsy. He got up and talked to everybody. When he came to me, I asked what he thought Yuna will do. "Do you think she'll quit her pilgrimage?"

"That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Well . . . if Yunie really wants to keep going, then . . . I guess I shouldn't stop her, you know? That's what I think anyway." It was hard to say that because it goes against what my father and a lot of Al Bhed believe. I just came to the decision thinking if she really loves us so much to save us from Sin, then who am I to keep her from expressing that love? Still, "I wonder if there's a way to perform the Final Summoning and not die? That'd be great, wouldn't it?" I really wanted to disprove Seymour's theory that death is love.

Lulu and Auron both convinced Tidus to go talk to Yuna. That left the rest of us alone, in the quiet. Something told me now would be a good time to talk to Wakka. I came closer to him. "Wakka?"

"Yeah, Rikku?"

"Umm . . ." What could I say? "How are you doing?"

"I'm . . . fine." He didn't make eye contact with me. "How 'bout you?"

"OK. Sure is . . . quiet out here."

"Yeah. Better than the Thunder Plains, huh?"

I smiled. "MUCH better. Um . . . thanks for defending me at Bevelle."

"Don't mention it," he answered in a tired voice. He still wasn't looking at me.

I was quiet for a little bit, trying to think of what else to say. "You know, uh, you kinda remind me of my brother."

"Yah? Your brudda named Brudda?"

I laughed. "Yeah, him."

"Wasn't he the guy who attacked us?"

"Well, yeah, he was. But he's also the guy who's been piloting the airship. He's not too bad, once you get to know him. He looks tough and scary with the tattoos and the hair, but he's really kinda silly. He was just acting on Father's orders, you know."

"Hmph." He didn't believe me.

"It's true! He really likes Blitzball. I'm sure you'd have a lot in common." I remembered what Rin told me, about sharing interests. "You know, Wakka, I've always been a big fan of the Besaid Aurochs."

"Really? Well, what about when the Psychs are playing, huh?"

"Oh, I still cheer for the Psychs. I'd look pretty weird as an Al Bhed if I wasn't cheering for the Psychs. But I'd always be cheering quietly for you. I'm big about rooting for the underdog. You guys may not always win, but your games are always the most fun to watch. And you're the best Blitzball player ever."

"You think so? Wow, it's nice to have a fan. We don't have very many."

"That first game you played at the tournament this year was excellent! I was so happy to see you win at last, because you deserved it."

"Thanks. I'm glad to hear that from someone."

"And then Tidus, with that phenomenal shot, that was awesome."

"Yeah, I remember when he practiced that shot on the boat to Luca. I'd never seen anything like it!"

"Do you think next season you and Tidus can play at the same time on the field? I'm sure everybody will finally take notice of the Aurochs then."

Wakka suddenly looked very sad. He turned away and bowed his head. "There's not going to be a next season."

"What?! Why would Spira cancel Blitzball? Is it because of the fiends?"

"No, I mean, there's not going to be a next season for me. I announced my retirement following the tournament."

"When you were at the top of your game? Why?"

"I wanted to devote all my time to the pilgrimage, to being Yuna's guardian."

"But what are you going to do after the pilgrimage?"

"I . . . haven't really thought about it. Maybe I'll go back to Besaid, marry, settle down, start a family. The best time to raise a kid is during a Calm, yah?"

"Have anybody in mind?"

I thought I saw Wakka glance over at Lulu. "Yeah," he said in a small voice. "It may not be necessary, though."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm a guardian. I might have to give my life to save Yuna."

"Well, let's all just hope that doesn't happen. I guess that means Tidus will carry the team now?"

"I don't know. I only asked for him to play for the Luca tournament. He seems to be anxious to get back to . . . wherever he's from."

"You don't believe he's from Zanarkand?"

"I don't know what I believe anymore."

I sighed. "You know, Wakka, there's a lot I don't understand about Yevon and Sin and the teachings, not just because I'm Al Bhed but because I'm young, and–"

"Well, you're not supposed to understand them! You're just supposed to obey them!" He must have realized how defensive he was getting because he looked down again. "It doesn't look like anybody does."

"You're right. Nobody's perfect, not even the maesters. You think, maybe sometime, we can talk about the teachings? Just to understand a little bit more about what we both believe? Maybe the truth is there somewhere."

Wakka starting digging his toe into the dirt. "That . . . would be interesting."

"Uh . . . that sword you gave Tidus is beautiful. It's unlike any other sword I've seen. You have good taste."

"Thanks."

"And you gave it to your brother?"

"Yah."

There was probably only one way to get him to really listen to me. "Wakka?"

"Yah?"

"On behalf of all the Al Bhed, I apologize for what happened to your brother."

"Aww, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. Somebody's got to say it. Since I'm the daughter of the Al Bhed leader, I have the authority."

"Well . . . it is good to hear, but you know, you're not responsible for . . ." He paused for a while, then he finally looked at me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

"I forgave you a long time ago!" I gave him a hug. He started to cry. Maybe I cried a little too.

"I'm . . . I'm really glad to have you as a friend."

"Me too! I'm very happy you're my friend too! You always seemed so happy and so fun and so carefree."

"No, no. You got me beat there. You really are happy. You're so special."

"You are too! You are!" And then I looked over at Lulu. "You're a good friend too, Lulu. You always have your head above water, and you're so powerful, and you're so pretty. I wish I could be like the woman that you are."

Lulu smiled, maybe even blushed. "Well, I'm nothing special, but I try."

"You don't try very hard!" Wakka laughed.

"Oh, you!" she cried, almost striking him.

And I turned to the other side. "And Auron, well, to be honest, you kinda creep me out, but it's because I'm so impressed with how strong and mysterious and wise you are. You're almost like a second father to me."

Auron shrugged. "I tend to have such a nature," he said quietly.

"And then there's Yunie and Tidus and even Kimhari, and they're all so wonderful and amazing. I just, I never had friends like you, not even in the Al Bhed. I love all of you. You're like my family. I wish we didn't have to leave each other when this is all over."

"But we will," Auron replied coldly. "No matter how hard you wish, we will be parted."

I stared at him with a mixture of anger and sadness. "Auron, why do you always say things like that? Why do you always break my spirits?"

"Because that's another nature I have. I'm realistic."

"Hey," Wakka said, "even when we do have to go, we'll never really be apart." He pounded his chest with his fist. "We're always together in here, yah?"

"I will be if you will," I said.

"You bet!"

"Absolutely," Lulu nodded.

I was so expecting for Auron to bring us down again. But he stood and approached us. "Jecht and Braska are always with me. I have stayed true to the promises I made them, thus I honor their memory every day." He put his good hand on my shoulder and examined me the same way he had done several times before. "In the same way, Rikku, I will always be with you."

I held his hand tight, like I was giving it a hug. "Thank you."

He took his hand away and went back to his spot. "Say Auron?" Wakka asked. "Got any promises for us to keep?"

"Just one," he said back in that same, cold tone. "Finish what we started."

"We will," Lulu answered, nodding.

"Count on it!" Wakka said giving a thumbs up.

Of course, I was more hesitant to answer, but as I looked at him, I seemed to understand that he gave me a different promise. "I'll do my best."

Yuna, Tidus, and Kimhari came back just a little later when Yuna said to us that we would leave in the morning. I ran up and gave her a hug. Yuna laughed and hugged me back. Then, I hugged Tidus, and I tried to hug Kimhari. It was tough because he's so tall.

"Did we miss something?" Tidus asked.

"Ah, we're just having some family time," Wakka answered.

Yuna laughed. "I see." She looked at us all with respect. "I couldn't have asked for better guardians. It is such a joy to serve with you all. I'm sorry for putting you all through this."

"Yunie, to have friends like these, it's worth it," I answered. "I would do it all again, except . . ."

"I understand."

"But I know, no matter what happens, you'll always be with me, in here." I put my hand on my heart.

Yunie nodded and smiled. "Always."

"Always," Tidus repeated.

Kimhari solemnly bowed his head.

I know this was all mushy, but I can't tell you how much those promises meant to me, especially when we did part. I did have to say goodbye, forever, to some of those dear friends, but not the ones I was expecting. Even now, though, I know they are forever with me in spirit.


	10. A Common Bond

Chapter 10: A Common Bond

We were getting even closer to Zanarkand. I know the tension was almost getting to the breaking point. It's just weird because even though the trek through the Calm Lands weren't very calm and most of the climb up Mr. Gagazet was, well, very uphill, there's not much for me to say. I wasn't as big a part of this portion of the story. I guess the biggest way I was involved on the Calm Lands was that every time Tidus stopped to talk, he urged me to think of a way to defeat Sin without killing Yunie. I tried, I really tried. Maybe I was a little selfish, but even though I knew was this pilgrimage was about, I still didn't want her to die. I thought that her love would mean more to Spira if she were alive. And Tidus, well, I guess I always knew, but it really started to come through when he resolved to save Yunie–he was in love with her.

A former summoner approached us at the inn in the Calm Lands and warned us that Maester Mika had blamed us for the murder of Maester Kinoc. We were to be found and executed on the spot. It was scary, being wanted criminals for something we didn't do. Maester Kelk Ronso might just be our friend, though; the summoner also mentioned that the Ronso abandoned Yevon after hearing of Maester Kinoc's death.

As soon as we tried to get out of the Calm Lands, we were approached from some Guado soldiers in the name of Seymour. They attacked us with machina. It wasn't an easy fight because we were tired after getting out of the Calm Lands, but with Auron and Tidus still beat it to a pulp, and Lulu kept hitting it with some of her best spells. All I did was cast Regan on everybody at the beginning. So we got through the battle. Then, we headed on to Mt. Gagazet.

Once we reached the mountain, I learned how Yunie had changed, and how much she had stayed the same. We were confronted by the Ronso, led by Maester Kelk Ronso, and they were prepared to kill us all because we were traitors. But Yuna said boldly to them, "I have cast aside Yevon! I . . . I follow the temples no more! Yevon has warped the teachings and betrayed us all!"

I was very surprised at those words. What did she and Tidus talk about? Who was it really who corrupted the teachings, Yevon or the leaders of Yevon? At the same time, though, I was proud. She wasn't like Wakka, blindly following the teachers of the teachings. She knows how to discern what is good.

It didn't look like it was going to save us from the Ronso. They wanted to rip us apart! Lulu and Auron reminded Maester Kelk that he continued to guard his people, even though he had also abandoned Yevon. The maester seemed to ponder these words. He said to Yuna, "You have been branded a traitor, but still you would fight Sin? Lost to the temple, hated by the people, yet you continue your pilgrimage? Everything lost! What do you fight for?"

Yuna answered in a soft voice, "I fight for Spira. The people long for the Calm. I can give it to them. It's all I can give. Defeating Sin, ending pain, this I can do." That may be the closest thing I ever heard Yuna say that validated what Auron told me. She did love Spira.

The maester must have seen it to, for he ordered the other Ronso to let us pass. "Summoner Yuna, your will is stronger than steel, tempered steel that even the mightiest Ronso could not hope to bend. Yuna, we bow to your will!" I wondered then if Maester Kelk, who stopped my speech at Bevelle, realized that I was right. The power of love is stronger than the power of sorrow.

We barely started ascending, though, when the Ronso stopped us again. Two Ronso refused to let Kimhari to go any further. Evidently, these two were responsible for breaking Kimhari's horn. I don't know the whole story, and I don't think I ever will. We watched as Kimhari fought them alone, and he beat them pretty good. Then, they promised to defeat any enemy that came for us from the temples. They also promised to make a statue in Yuna's honor, with a horn on her head. She seemed very pleased by that.

This whole incident reminded me of something. As we were going up, I caught up to the Ronso guardian. "Hey Kimhari, I heard that you brought Yunie to Besaid, is that right?"

He only growled and nodded.

"Well, why did you do that?"

"Kimhari made a promise," he answered.

"To who?"

"Kimhari promised he would not tell."

"But why Besaid? Yunie had family on Bikanel Island! We would have taken you in, you know?"

But then, we were interrupted. The Ronso called us back one last time. We were all getting very impatient, but we turned around. This is one moment I will never forget. All the Ronso looked up at us and began singing to us the Hymn of the Fayth. It was so beautiful, even coming from their grisly voices. It filled the whole mountain. I think it was then that I realized the one element that bound all of Spira together–the Al Bhed, the Ronso, the Guado, the Yevonites, everyone. It was the Hymn of the Fayth. And it seemed it meant something different to every different kind of people. Thinking about this made me forget the whole matter with Kimhari.

Man, it was a climb, very cold, and so many fiends! All the paths cris-crossed, and it was easy to double back without realizing. Several places on the mountain, we saw graves. Lulu said they were summoners who died before they reached Zanarkand, summoners who were never sent.

"Did they need a sending?" I asked Auron. "Isn't it like what Braska said, that summoners who love Spira so much never become fiends?"

"But also remember, the summoners who love are those who make it to Zanarkand," he answered.

"But they couldn't help what happened here, could they? I mean, they died here because of the elements and the fiends."

"They were ill-prepared. The mountain and Lady Yunalesca deemed them unworthy."

"Do you think we'll fare better?"

He looked at me with perhaps a hint of a smile. "Let's hope so."

I was definitely the slowest and often found myself behind everybody else. At one point as we got close to the end of the climb, I found Tidus lingering back with me. I said to him anxiously, "Zanarkand's on the other side, you know?"

"I know," he answered sadly.

"Yunie is going to get the Final Aeon, you know?"

"I know."

I almost thought about asking him if it was really all for the best, but I knew his answer. So, I just said, "I haven't thought of anything."

"Me neither."

"What are we going to do?"

I thought from his tone of voice that he had given up, but he had this commanding look in his eyes, something I rarely saw from him. "We'll do something! We just don't know enough yet. Until we do, we really can't help Yuna. Let's go to Zanarkand. We'll find something there. It'll all come together, I know it!"

Part of me thought that many summoners had come before Yuna and made it to Zanarkand, and they didn't find anything like that. But then part of me thought that maybe they didn't know where to look. I was sure Tidus would find it, so I decided to encourage him. "Just now, you sounded like a leader, you know?"

"Star of the Zanarkand Abes! Didn't anyone tell you?"

"Yeah, you did!" I said to myself. But I just laughed and bowed. When I looked up, Seymour was standing behind him. Again?

"Ah, the son of Jecht," Seymour said coldly. I gasped and looked at Tidus. He really was Jecht's son? How could it be? I always wondered, but–

"Rikku, run ahead and tell Auron!" Tidus ordered.

"You're not fighting him alone!" I said.

"Just go! Go!"

So, I ran up and caught up to them. My mind was racing, and it didn't want to think in anything but Al Bhed. I panted, "Seymour . . . Seymour! . . . _tufh drana . . . RINNO_!" (Dow there, hurry) I pointed down the path

"How'd he get past the Ronso?" Wakka asked.

"_E tuh'd gufh . . . vekrdehk . . . Tidus . . . cuh uv_ Jecht." (I don't know . . . fighting . . . Tidus . . . son of Jecht.)

"Let's move!" Auron said running down. We were right behind him.

It didn't look like Tidus had started fighting yet when we got up there. Yuna came forward with her summoning staff. Seymour only sneered, "A sending so soon? Allow me to say something to the last Ronso before I go!" With a cold laugh, he turned to Kimhari. "Yours was truly a gallant race. They threw themselves at me to bar my path . . . one . . . by . . . one." He continued to laugh as Kimhari howled in disbelief. Then, he looked back at the summoner. "Yuna, do you love this poor Ronso? You could end his suffering. It is in your power."

"I don't understand," she replied.

"Allow Kimhari to die. Release him from his pain. Spira is a land of suffering and sorrow caught in a spiral of death. Nothing can stop it, no great act, no deep emotion. The only act that can save Spira is destruction. Yuna, if you love Spira, if you wish to heal Spira, come with me. I will become the next Sin with your help."

"Never!" Tidus said, stepping in front of him.

Seymour's eyes dazzled wickedly as he stared at Tidus. "Once I have become the next Sin, your father will once more be free!"

"What do you know?" Tidus demanded as he charged at Seymour. I did not understand. What could he mean?

But Seymour transformed again. This fight was a lot harder than other battles we had with him. He quickly turned Tidus into a zombie, so I refrained from casting Regan on him. Instead, I tossed him a Holy Water. I had this targe I customized that had Death Ward and Zombie Ward, and I made sure to get it out. Then Seymour started casting some really tough spells. We finally decided that the best thing to do was for Yunie to call on her strongest aeons and have them cast their Overdrives. That did the trick! We should have sent him then, but he disappeared too quickly. Immediately, we continued to head down the path.

Yuna, however, stopped. "He will become Sin . . . with my help," she repeated.

"Lies!" Auron responded. "Forget them!"

"Yeah," I wondered. "How could she believe him?"

But it was the other thing that had her the most troubled. "If he becomes Sin . . . Sir Jecht will be free."

"We're leaving!" Auron yelled.

"You know something!" she yelled at him. "Tell me!"

Auron said nothing. What could he know? How could it be true?

She came closer to us. "TELL ME!"

It was Tidus who spoke up, "Sin . . . is my old man."

How can it be? How can it be? He was a guardian! He wanted to destroy Sin!

"You hit your head?" Wakka asked.

But Tidus repeated, "Sin is my old man! My old man became Sin! I don't know how or why he did it. I felt him, inside. And when I did, I knew it was true. My old man is Spira's suffering."

As he was saying that, I realized he was right. That one time I fell under Sin's toxin, I saw those memories. That last one, it was a memory when Jecht was there. Maybe that's why I couldn't understand when everyone was speaking in Al Bhed. I was hearing it through his ears. But why was I seeing it from my point of view? Maybe Sin could do that. Maybe there's really no such thing as Sin's toxin. Maybe it–no, he–searched my mind for the memory, and he showed it to me. How long did Tidus know? Did he know when he was on the Al Bhed boat? Did he know at Operation Mi'hen? He must have known at Lake Macalania. It would explain all of his strange behaviors–staring at Sin, talking to Sin, chasing Sin.

"Sorry," Tidus said quietly.

"Even . . . knowing Sin is your father . . ." Yuna said, as though she was trying to believe it and not believe at the same time, "still, you know . . . I must–"

"I know. Let's get him. I think my old man would want that."

"You would fight your own father?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah. No problem there."

Wakka was very confused and tried to make it fit Chappu's situation. Finally, he voiced the one question I'm sure we were all asking ourselves, "Why . . . why'd all this have to happen?!"

"We will learn when we arrive, soon," Auron answered. Of course, I remembered. He knew every secret about this journey. There must be some surprise that awaits us, and only he knew what was coming.

I lingered behind as Tidus was still reeling about what he just told us. "Tidus?" I said softly.

"Yeah, Rikku?"

"I'm . . . I'm sorry. About your father."

"It's nothing. Forget it."

"No, I can't. If it was my father who became Sin, I'd . . . I'd be heartbroken. I can't imagine how you feel."

"You and your father seemed to get along a lot better than we did."

"I don't know much about him, but . . . he looked like he was a good man. He looked like he was fun."

"Well, he wasn't. He had such a big ego, and he kept calling me a crybaby. And he drank."

"Oh."

"I hated him."

"You don't mean that!"

"Yes, I do! I hated him!"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It makes this easier."

"You sure we shouldn't reconsider our plan of action? Maybe we're going about this all wrong. Inside of saving Yunie, maybe we should start thinking about rescuing your dad."

"No!"

I nodded sadly. "OK." I started following everyone else, but then I turned around. "Yunie . . . loves us . . . very much . . . you know?"

"Yeah, I do, but . . . we love her, too, don't we?"

I hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, you're right."

"Come on." So, we went ahead together.

As we reached the summit, we saw a very strange sight–thousands of Fayth in a wall, and a mysterious mist rising from them. "Someone is using this Fayth!" Yuna said. "Someone is drawing energy from all of them!"

There was only one person who knew what was going on, and I was getting sick of all these secrets and mysteries. I turned to Auron. "Hey, you know something, don't ya? Spill the beans!"

But he walked past me and said something I had not expected. "Look not to others for knowledge. This is your journey, too." I didn't get what he was saying. We've been looking to him this whole time! I guess maybe it's just because this was the first time I was demanding information from him.

Before we knew what was happening, Tidus touched the wall, and he fell down unconscious. We all got down on our knees and begged him to wake up, but he wasn't responding at all.

Then I got this crazy idea. I'm not even sure if I thought it was really going to do any good. Maybe it was just an experiment. I shushed everybody. Then, I held Tidus's head, and I started to sing the Hymn of the Fayth. I was singing all alone the first time. Then, as I hoped, Yuna started singing with me, a much higher part. Lulu came in on the second line, singing such a beautiful harmony part. We sang once more, and Kimahri sang in a low growl. Auron also sang in a very low part. I looked up at Wakka. He had his arms crossed. I couldn't quite hear him, but I could see him mouthing the words. Obviously, we didn't have the best voices in all of Spira, but I think at that moment, we sounded as good as any Fayth in any temple. The Fayth here must have thought so, too, because they finally let Tidus go. He opened his eyes and jumped up like somebody shocked him.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "We were so worried about you!"

"Yeah, I'm OK," he answered.

"What happened?" Yuna asked.

"Nothing happened. I blacked out, and I was dreaming. I heard you calling to me, and I woke up." He stretched and yawned. "Nothing like a good nap. Let's go!" Even so, I thought he knew something we didn't, but I didn't pressure him about it. I wish now that I asked him because it was a secret he took to the end.

The higher up we went, the harder it was. I fought the fiends. I helped Wakka and Tidus figure out some puzzles underwater. But I really wanted to stop. I wanted to pull Yuna by the hand and run all the way back Home. But I also wanted her to go, to show the people of Spira how much she loved them. I just didn't know what to do.

After we fought a tough fiend just as we exited the mountain tunnels, I had a moment with Yunie alone. "Yunie? Do you remember when you came Home?"

She turned back to me. "I remember. It was frightening. The Al Bhed were nice, but when the Guado came–"

"I don't mean then. When you were little, you came Home, to visit. Do you remember?"

She shook her head sadly. "No. I don't remember."

"Father said we were best friends. He said I mixed your name with Al Bhed, and I called you 'Yuny.' We used to play together, everywhere, all sorts of games. And Brother would scare us with his toys. And we laughed and we sang. And then you stopped coming."

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. It was because of Braska. Because he became a summoner. He made Father so angry. Father didn't understand how much Braska loved him. We might have taken you in as your new family after your parents died, but then Kimhari took you to Besaid."

"I wish I could remember. I don't remember ever meeting your father."

"And I didn't remember meeting you."

"So, why are you talking about this, now?"

"Because Sin . . . made me remember."

"Oh." Yuna started to walk on.

"You love us, don't you, Yunie?"

"I do, Rikku."

"You know we love you, too, don't you?"

"Yes, of course I do." She began to proceed.

I pulled her back. "Yuna, I say no! If we go down there, then you'll–"

"Rikku, you're a true friend, and I thank you, but I must go down . . . to Zanarkand."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't go, but shouldn't we think about it more? There's gotta be a way that we can save you, Yuna!"

"All my life, I knew this moment would come."

"Yunie . . ."

Yuna came back, and she hugged me. "Thank you, Rikku. Thank you for everything."

"Don't say that, Yunie! It's not over yet! There are still so many games to play! Please, don't leave me alone at Home again!"

"Tell Cid I said thank you."

"You can tell him yourself! We're going to see each other again one day! You'll come back, won't you?"

She looked beyond me at the guardians. "Let's go."

Everyone followed her, but I fell on my knees, and I cried so hard. I knew this was it. There was nothing else to be done. The next place I'll see Yunie is on the Farplane. I had failed my father, broke my promise.

I looked up, and I noticed that Tidus was still there. He was looking into a movie sphere. I didn't bother him because it looked like it was private. Once it was over, he got up and put his hand on my shoulder. "It's alright, Rikku. Our story has just begun."

And I knew he was right. You know, I was so grateful for Tidus. It seemed like every time I needed someone's help, he was there. Not everybody else was. I thought I could count on him . . .

So I got up and did something I thought I'd never do. I went down to Zanarkand.


	11. The Unexpected Sacrifice

Chapter 11: The Unexpected Sacrifice

We gathered before the ruins of Zanarkand. For a while, we just stood there in silence. I never heard such silence. Such a sad silence. Everything there was rubble. The sky was clouded with pyreflies. It was cold. This is where death reigned. This is where death has its power.

Kimhari somehow found some firewood. Tidus had a flint in his pocket. They built a small fire. All of us were tired, maybe with sorrow. We sat around the fire. I couldn't help it; I cried again. I was the only one weeping. I still don't understand why no one else would shed tears for Yunie.

Quite unexpectedly, Tidus stood up. Yuna looked at him, as if to ask where he was going. He simply gave her a tender gaze and put his hand on her shoulder for a moment before walking on. We watched as he stood on top of a particularly large piece of rubble. I think I understood. He was looking at his home, seeing what had become of it. He finally came down to us with a somber expression, and he spoke these words:

"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance."

And then, he told us about his whole journey. How he first encountered Sin at Zanarkand. How he met me on the ship. He talked about meeting Wakka, Lulu, Yuna, Kimhari. He talked about the Luca tournament and finding Auron there. He described all the pathways, the temples, the people, his deepest, secret thoughts. I don't know if, actually I don't think, he told us everything. But the way he described my world and the people of this world, it was incredible. It lifted my spirits a little. I'd seen through his eyes how far we'd come. I kinda wish we all had a turn. I'm sure the same story looked different to each one of us. There were some gaps in his story that I wish I knew. I guess that's why I'm telling my story now, even though I wonder that it's too late. I know there are some that won't get to hear it.

Yuna must have been anxious to get this over with because after a while, she asked him to stop. Then, she stood and picked up her summoning staff. "Let's go," she said.

We walked down a long, broken road, and the farther we went, the more we saw pyreflies. Wakka even remarked that it reminded him of the Farplane. The road finally ended in a domed building, somehow still standing. An old gatekeeper greeted us at the entrance of the building. She invited us inside, saying that Lady Yunalesca would be waiting for us. How could that be possible? She lived a thousand years ago. She must have been unsent, like Seymour.

Soon after we entered, we saw a ghostlike figure appear walk through us, telling someone unseen that she would be willing to lay down his life to stop Sin. "What was that?" I asked when she disappeared.

"Our predecessors," Auron answered.

"She said 'Lady Yocun,' didn't she?" Lulu said. "She guarded High Summoner Yocun?"

"This dome is filled with pyreflies. It's like one gigantic sphere. People's thoughts remain here, forever."

That sounded a little creepy. So when the next summoner comes here, they'll see us. I wondered what it would be like if I came back and saw myself here. But another thing bothered me. Why would a guardian talk about laying down her life to stop Sin? I thought that was the summoner's job.

Then, we heard screams. "No, Mother, no! I don't want you to become a Fayth!"

"There is no other way. Use me and defeat Sin. Only then will people accept you."

I looked where the screams were coming from. I recognized the first speaker–a young Seymour. I guess it was the first time I felt sorry for him as I saw his young self crying and screaming. But why would someone talk about becoming a Fayth? The Fayth gave their lives years ago. We just saw them, thousands of them! Why would we need to create more?

We then started to see visions of Braska with Jecht and young Auron. I was surprised that Auron was trying to hold Braska back. "I don't want to see you die!" young Auron cried. Wow, he was just like me. It's hard to believe because now he's the one who's been pushing us the most to get here.

Braska replied to him, "I am honored that you care for me so, but I have come to kill grief itself. I will defeat Sin and lift the veil of sorrow covering Spira. Please understand, Auron. I cannot bear to see Spira hurt so much anymore." If I heard him say this before this whole journey, it would have not made sense at all, but now it was so clear how selfless he was. If only he knew.

There was another Cloister of Trials. Of all the ones I've done, this was the easiest, once we understood what we were doing. We had to conquer another huge fiend that kept hitting us very hard. My Regan spell was very helpful, and Yuna just kept healing after that. Finally, the way was open. I expecting that it would be like a Chamber of the Fayth, where Yuna would pray for the Final Aeon. It didn't really look like one of those chambers, though. It was a lift going down into the earth. Yuna went down there alone, and we waited. But as we waited, we heard another scream, undeniably Jecht's voice:

"What do you mean 'no final aeon?!'"

We all looked at each other. What could it mean?

Another scream, this time Yunie. The lift came back up with her on it. "Sir Auron! Everyone!" We went down to her, and she pointed to a round emblem of the floor of what looked like bones. "This isn't a Fayth! It's just an empty statue!"

The gatekeeper appeared again. "That statue lost its power as a Fayth a long time ago. It is Lord Zaon, the first Fayth for the Final Summoning. What you see is what remains of him. Lord Zaon is . . . his soul is gone."

"Gone?!" Wakka cried.

"There IS no Final Aeon?!" I said. We were all perplexed. Why didn't the teachings tell us about this? We felt . . . tricked.

"But fear not," the gatekeeper continued. "Lady Yunalesca will show you the path. The Final Aeon will be yours. The summoner and the Final Aeon will join powers. Go to her now. Inside, the Lady awaits." She disappeared before we could ask her anything else.

"Wait!" Tidus called before we could move. "Auron, you knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"Yes," Auron said flatly.

Of course he did. "Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

"If I had told you the truth, would it really stop you from coming?"

I should have thought about that. I knew Auron by now. I knew there were tons of things he didn't tell us. And I knew that Yuna wouldn't stop. If she wouldn't turn back for me, she wouldn't turn back now.

We continued on to a large room beyond, the real Hall of the Final Summoning. Someone came forward. I recognized her from the vision that Seymour showed us–a slender woman with wild hair.

"Lady Yunalesca," Yuna greeted.

"Welcome to Zanarkand," the lady responded. She had a deep, almost chilling voice, even though it was filled with kindness. "I congratulate you, summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will bestow upon you that which you seek. The Final Aeon will be yours. Now, choose."

We were all silent. Choose what? What is there to choose?

"You must choose the one whom I will change . . . to become the Fayth of the Final Summoning."

That terrified us all. There must be two sacrifices. We had no idea that the teachings were this skewed. I wish the Al Bhed knew about this; we would have been more concerned about the guardians as well. I understood how convenient it was that the summoners didn't survive; they couldn't tell us what happened!

Yunalesca continued, "There must be a bond between chosen and summoner, for that is what the Final Summoning embodies–the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If the bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin. I chose my husband Zaon as my Fayth a thousand years ago. Our bond was true, and I obtained the Final Aeon. There is nothing to fear. You will soon be freed of worry and pain, for once you call the Final Aeon, your life will end. Death is the ultimate and final liberation."

How can this be? I could see Yuna giving her life, but could she slaughter one of us to be a Fayth? That's not the heart within her! If she even considers it, everything I thought I knew about Yunie would be a lie!

As Lady Yunalesca vanished, we saw another vision of Braska, Auron, and Jecht, where Jecht agreed to be Braska's Fayth. He recognized that his desire to return to his home in Zanarkand was futile, and he thought that he could be useful if he became the next Fayth. Young Auron begged him not to go, to find a way to break the cycle of death. Jecht promised him that he'll think of something before leaving with Braska. But it was too late. Instead, he became Sin. What happened?

Present Auron, upon seeing the vision, drew his sword and hit at his ghostly self until it dissolved. "And the cycle went on," he said in a tragic tone.

Lulu approached Yunie. "If one of us has to become a Fayth, I volunteer."

"Me too!" Wakka said.

"Count me out," I thought. "I just can't bear the thought that my last moment would be filled with betrayal."

"That still won't change anything, you know?" Tidus asked. "You bring the Calm, and then what? That won't break the cycle!"

"Listen," Wakka said, "you wanna defeat Sin and keep Yuna alive? You don't want Sin to come back, yah? That's just not gonna happen, brudda, you know?"

"If you want everything, you'll end up with nothing!" Lulu added.

"But I want everything!" Tidus yelled.

"Now you're being childish!" Wakka yelled back.

"So, what would an adult do then? They know they can just throw away a summoner; they do whatever they like! You're right, I may not even have a chance. But no way am I gonna stand here and let Yuna go. And what Auron said about there being a way, I think it's true. Let's go to talk to Lady Yunalesca. She's got to know something she's not telling us."

"You really think she'll help?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I have to try. This is my story. It'll end with happily ever after, or I'll end it here."

"Wait," Yuna said, stopping him. "You say it's your story, but it's mine too, you know? It would be so easy to let fate just carry me away, following the same path my whole life, but I know I can't. What I do, I do with no regrets."

We started to go after them up these high steps when I thought of something. "Wait, Auron!" I tugged on his cloak. "I just thought, that bond that's needed for the Final Aeon."

"What of it, Rikku?" he said impatiently.

"Well . . . what about the love Yunie has for Spira? Isn't that a bond? Isn't it good enough?"

I think for the first time, Auron looked sad. He closed his eyes and very slowly shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because, for one thing, it's not mutual. Braska had the same problem. He loved Spira, but Spira did not love him back."

"It's worse for Yunie, isn't it? They almost hate her."

"Second, without a soul to give a life to her, what could be made into a Fayth?

"But how could Braska have killed Jecht? Didn't he say he was sacrificing himself for Jecht, too?"

"He didn't want to, but he thought it was the only thing to do. He comforted himself by remembering that through dying, the Fayth become immortal."

"But . . . but how can Yunie do the same? And why would a Fayth become Sin? Why would something so holy and pure become something so evil?"

Auron closed his eyes again and bowed his head. I could have sworn I saw a tear trickle out of the corner of his scarred eye. He put his hand on my shoulder. "Go inside, Rikku. You will understand." There was just a tiny bit of a crack in his voice.

I tried to look back at him the way he had so often looked at me, trying to comprehend his pain. "Auron?"

"Just go."

So, I went. I followed the guardians through the doors and up the stairs. It was much like the Farplane or the sphere vision that Seymour showed us. There were stars all around us, and stairways that went to nowhere. It was a cold, quiet place.

Lady Yunalesca came out to us. She smiled at Yuna. I guess it was supposed to be a kind smile, but it seemed to have no real emotion behind it. "Have you chosen the one who will be your Fayth? Who will it be?"

"Might I ask something first?" Yuna replied. "Will Sin return even if I use the Final Summoning to defeat it?" I think we all thought that was an odd question to ask because we all knew the answer was yes. It was obvious. This has been done for a thousand years! Maybe if Lady Yunalesca simply said yes, Yuna would ask why. But Lady Yunalesca skipped the obvious answer and thus shocked us all.

"Sin is eternal. Every aeon that defeats Sin becomes Sin in its place, and thus Sin is reborn."

Now, we all understood why Jecht was Sin now. He agreed to be Braska's Fayth, and when he defeated Sin, he became Sin. But this was horrible news! How could any one of us be Sin? How could Yuna make us into the new Sin?

Lady Yunalesca continued, "Sin is an inevitable part of Spira's destiny. It is never ending."

"Never ending?!" Wakka cried. "But, but, if we atone for our crimes, Sin will stop coming back, yah? Someday it'll be gone, yah?"

"Will humanity ever reach such purity?" Lady Yunalesca only asked wistfully.

"So you're saying we are going to be punished forever for something done a thousand years ago?" I asked. "Why would Yevon do this? Why doesn't he forgive us?"

"Do you deserve forgiveness?"

"Well, I think we do! We don't use machina without restraint, like they did a thousand years ago! Even the Al Bhed have their limits! We're not guilty of their sins!"

"But you sin even more. You continue to hate, to steal, to lie, to kill. Indeed, your sins may be more numerous now than they were a thousand years ago. You do not deserve forgiveness."

"This can't be!" Lulu protested. "The teachings state that we can exorcize Sin with complete atonement! It's been our only hope all these years!"

"Hope is . . . comforting. It allows us to accept our fate, however tragic it may be."

We then saw another vision of young Auron, in front of a vision of Lady Yunalesca. "What's the sense in all this?" young Auron asked. "Braska believed in Yevon's teachings and died for them! Jecht believed Braska and gave his life for him!"

The vision Yunalesca answered, "They chose to die because they had hope."

"BRASKA LOVED SPIRA! DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING?"

"Love can be hollow. If he truly loved Spira, hope is the best gift he could give them."

Young Auron charged at her, but she quickly struck him down with one bolt of magic. He fell, and his sword stuck in the ground. I wondered, watching that, if that was when he lost the use of his left arm, or maybe when he got that scar on his eye. It never occurred to me that . . .

Present Yunalesca continued, "Yevon's teachings and the Final Summoning give the people of Spira hope. Without hope, they would drown in their sorrow."

"No," I found myself whispering. "No, they wouldn't."

"Now, choose," Yunalesca ordered of the summoner. "Who will be your Fayth? Who will be the one to renew Spira's hope?"

"Renew it so it can be destroyed again?" I wondered. "Please, Yuna, don't do it! Don't allow this!"

She must have heard me, because she answered, "No one."

I think we all breathed a big sigh of relief.

Yuna stepped forward. "I would have gladly died. I lived for the people of Spira, and I would have gladly died for them. But no more! The Final Summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away!"

"No. It is our only hope."

"No, it isn't!" I said a little louder.

"You're father sacrificed himself to give his people hope, so they could forget their sorrow," Yunalesca continued.

"Wrong!" Yuna answered. "My father . . . my father wanted to make Spira's sorrow go away, not just cover it up with lies!"

"Sorrow cannot be abolished. It is meaningless to try."

"YOU'RE WRONG!" I couldn't stand it anymore. I ran up and faced her. "Sorrow can be snuffed out like a candle. I've seen it happen! I've seen people survive Sin's attacks, to move on, to learn how to smile again! It's because they get through it together! They love each other! Sure, it's, it's hard. It's hard on everybody when we lose something or someone. But it goes away! We live on! We comfort ourselves with the thoughts that broken things can be built again, and our departed loved ones will meet us on the Farplane! As long as we have each other, nothing else matters! Whenever there's love, there can't be endless sorrow!"

She looked closely at me. "How can you say such things, you poor child with a heart of cold machina?"

"It's true, it's true, I know how powerful hate can be too. But I know love is stronger! When we're together in the Al Bhed Home, all of us are family. There's no telling what we can accomplish because we work together! And I tried to stop this pilgrimage because we believe that this death, this sacrifice is pointless. Now, now I know for sure! You deny us the gift of one who loves Spira heart and soul, just to defeat Spira again. You know, I think you're scared of this power."

"You dare believe I fear the power of love? Child, it is love that brings a summoner here. It is love that brings the Final Aeon."

"Then tell me this. Why do the teachings encourage us to hate?"

"The teachings do not encourage hate–"

"YES, THEY DO! They openly call the Al Bhed heathens, just because we use machina! And why do the teachings encourage us to kill? Why do they command us to send someone to death every time Sin comes? Not just any someone, the most selfless, loving someone in all Spira! And why do they not mention this unexpected sacrifice of one of the guardians to become a Fayth? Don't you see how much that hurts the summoner, to slaughter someone so close to them? You say the teachings offer hope. I say they offer no hope at all!"

"Rikku!" Wakka called in shock.

"You dare slander the teachings?" Yunalesca demanded.

"Yes, I dare!" I continued. "I'm an outcast already; why shouldn't I? But I'll tell you. I'll tell you the answer to my questions. Because if all Spira were united–humans, Al Bhed, Guado, Ronso, even Hyperbello–if we all lived and loved as one family with the summoner to guide us, there's nothing we can't do. Sin wouldn't stand a chance. That scares you to death because you know we can live above our sorrow, and you can't use it to control us anymore! Love is our hope!"

Everyone stared at me. I think they were all amazed that this came out of little, old me. I just wiped the sweat off my brow and the tears from my eyes. Then, I stepped back. Lady Yunalesca's smile never faded, but somehow I could tell this was not what she had wanted.

Yuna spoke again. "My father, I loved him. I know that he loved all people of Spira, the same way Rikku said. It was the Spiral she envisioned that my father fought for. So, I will live with my sorrow. I will live my own life! I will defeat sorrow, in his place. I will stand my ground and be strong. Perhaps, as Rikku said, I will blow it out, like a candle. I know with people such as those here with me, it can be done! And someday, I don't know how, but I will conquer it. WE will conquer it, and we will do it without false hope!"

"You poor children," Yunalesca softly spoke as a cloud of darkness gathered around her. "You would give up hope for something unobtainable? Very well. I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. I will release you before you realize the impossibility of your dreams. It is better to die in hope than live in despair. Let ME be your liberator!"

Auron then spoke up in a commanding voice, "Now, this is it! Now is the time to choose–die and be free of pain, or live and face your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!" I understood then. This is why Auron pushed us all the way down this road down to Zanarkand, even when we had numerous chances to stop. He wanted us to come to this very moment. He knew we would see through Yunalesca's lies and fight her. And we all agreed–this fate which Yunalesca presents was unacceptable. We had to end it, now.

Tidus, Auron, and Yuna got in battle formation first. "Wait, Yunie, switch with me! I'll help you save your MP." She nodded, and we switched places. I hit Auron and Tidus both with Regan. Tidus cast Haste on all of us. I switched back with Yuna, and she cast Shell and Protect on everybody. Pretty much after that, Auron and Tidus whacked Yunalesca a few times, and her HP dropped to zero.

"Well, that was easy," Tidus said confidently.

"It's not over yet," Auron answered.

We watched as Yunalesca transformed into some soft of snake goddess. She waved her hands, and suddenly, everyone was attacked by snakes from the ground. It turned them into zombies. Tidus started screaming in pain. The Regan I cast on him was like poison! Yuna cast Esuna on him, but it didn't work.

"Do we have any Holy Waters?" Lulu asked.

"Oh, not very many!" Yuna answered in a panicky voice.

"Auron, Tidus, switch with Lulu and me!" Wakka offered. "We'll give you a break!"

"Yeah, you have that Zombie Ward armor, don't you?" Lulu said.

"That's right, I do!" They took Auron and Tidus's place. Yunalesca hit them with the same attack, but it didn't affect Wakka. This time, the attack knocked out Yuna. Lulu looked like she was going for a Holy Water, but when Yuna went down, she grabbed a Phoenix Down instead.

"Here Yuna, trade with me again!" I called. "I'll use my Al Bhed Potions to heal, if we need it." I quickly grabbed the targe I had customized earlier that had a Zombie Ward and a Death Ward. She nodded and traded spots with me. Wakka threw his Blitzball, and it looked once again like Yunalesca was finished.

But before we could celebrate, she sank into the ground and rose again as a gigantic, red head with snakes for hair. The first thing she did was cast Mega-Death. Wakka instantly fell down dead, even his HP was still good, but Lulu and I were still standing. I quickly threw a Phoenix Down at Wakka. "Maybe we should get Auron or Tidus back," I suggested.

"Kimhari fight!" the Ronso yelled.

"You sure, Kimhari? She might cast Mega-Death again!"

"Kimhari not afraid!" So, he traded with Wakka and cast Haste on himself. Yunalesca quickly hit him, but that filled his Overdrive. He used Self-Destruct, which hit Yunalesca hard, but it also knocked him out.

"Ultima!" Lulu yelled. Amazing power surrounded her, and it created a fantastic explosion around Yunalesca. "Well, that did it for my MP," she said softly.

"Lulu!" Yuna called. "I have enough strength for one more attack." She switched with her as I was trying to revive Kimhari. She raised her staff high above her head. "HOLY!" White spheres of power fell down from the heavens and struck Yunalesca repeatedly. She was still clinging on to a little bit of HP, and she used her strength to knock out Yuna again. So, it was all up to me. I reached into my stores and pulled out a grenade. I really didn't think it was going to be enough, but I threw it with all my might. There was an explosion, and then the gigantic, red, snake head was gone.

Yunalesca, as we first saw her, appeared on the floor. She was crouching and not smiling anymore. "If I die, so does the Final Aeon. And with it, Spira's only hope," she said weakly.

"We'll make a new hope!" Tidus said proudly.

"Fool!" she answered. "Love can only go so far, can only do so much. There is no other way! Even if there was, even if you did destroy Sin . . . Yu Yevon the immortal will create Sin anew." We all looked at each other. I don't think anyone had ever heard of Yu Yevon. "Zaon, forgive me!" Yuna cried. "Spira has been robbed of its final hope! All that remains is sorrow!" With that, she became a swarm of pyreflies.

"I can't believe what we just did," Yuna said softly.

"Let's do something even more unbelievable," Tidus said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Destroy Sin, without the Final Aeon. I don't know how, but we will find a way! Now, let's go. We gotta find a Save Sphere and restore ourselves."

Most of the guardians started leaving, but as I was going out, "Rikku!" Yuna called me back.

I turned back around. "Yeah, Yunie?"

"What you just said to Lady Yunalesca's face took tremendous courage, and an even greater heart. You had revealed things about the teachings even I had not realized before. I'm so proud of you."

I smiled. "Thanks. I had help, though."

"You know, you would have made a really good summoner."

"Even though I'm Al Bhed?"

"Sure. Wouldn't that had been something, if an Al Bhed became a summoner, in spite of what the teachings say?"

"I think Father would have gone crazy! Putting me in the Summoner's Sanctum would have been like grounding me!" We both laughed.

"Well, you were an excellent guardian, one of the best in history."

"Still am, right?"

"Absolutely. You still are."

She left the room. I went down the stairs and looked out the big doors for a moment to see where everybody was. I only saw Tidus and Auron talking, and I thought of something I should tell Auron. I waited until after he was done talking to Tidus. Then, as Tidus left the room, I approached him. "Auron, I just, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through this, losing Braska and Jecht."

He sighed impatiently and angrily. "Maybe you did not hear me before–dwelling in the past–"

"–IS FUTILE! Yes, I know, and you can say that all you want. It's not going to stop me! This is part of what love is, you know? It's understanding when someone else is sad and helping them bear their grief. It's easing sorrow. And don't tell me you're not feeling sad, because I know you are! I think I understand now. You knew that deep love that Braska felt for all of Spira was powerful, but you feel it was wasted because of Yunalesca's empty promises of hope! Well, I can promise you, it won't be wasted anymore. I'll teach, I'll show everyone what it's like to be united. I don't know how, but . . . maybe Yunie will help. I'll even love those who hate me. Maybe they might learn. Maybe they might change. And maybe one day, we'll live in a world without fiends. Maybe one day, Spira won't be a world where death reigns anymore."

Auron was very quiet. I expected him to tell me that I was stupid, that I'm reaching too high, but he said nothing.

"Does . . . that sound good?"

He came close to me and looked me up and down. "You grew."

I laughed a little. "Yeah, I do feel a little taller."

"There is something I should tell you. I was the one who asked Kimhari to take Yuna to Besaid."

"You? Why? You knew she had family at Home!"

"It was one of Braska's final wishes. He wanted her to be as far away from Bevelle as possible. Perhaps I should have allowed her to go Home, but if I did, she would have never become a summoner. She needed to be a summoner, you know."

"Yes, I understand now." He started walking on. "Hey!" I called to him. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you give this charge to me? You're obviously a lot more preoccupied with Yunie and Tidus. Why bother with me? Is it just because of you and my father?"

"No," he said, turning around.

"And don't give me one of those you-can-figure-it-out-for-yourself answers, because I'm not really good at those!"

"But you said it yourself. Sometimes, it is one who experiences the power of hate who truly cherishes the power of love. Braska would want someone to know, so that it could be shared with Spira. It is really fortunate that you came with us. You, being Al Bhed, knew that there was something the teachings were lacking, and you found it. Yuna already knows, and I knew the others would never learn. But I could tell from the beginning, when I first looked into your eyes, that only your heart was ready." He turned away and left. I followed. I felt kinda humbled. I was the youngest, the clumsiest, the slowest, the most annoying, the weakest fighter of all of them. Most of the journey, if I'm honest with myself, I thought I just got in the way. I would have never guessed that Auron knew all along I would play such a big role. Maybe I should have guessed. Maybe that's why my Father sent me to get Yuna in the first place. But then, neither one of us knew just how essential my love would be.

"Hey, one more thing! How did Braska know?"

Auron paused for a minute. "Braska was a rare breed. Much like you, he put a lot of trust in underdogs." I thought a lot more highly about Braska from then on.


	12. Facing Sin

Chapter 12: Facing Sin

Almost immediately after we left the dome, we were picked up by Father's airship. We got together on the bridge and argued about what our next step should be. Nobody really knew what to do. Our only clue, as Auron pointed out, was that Sin was Jecht. That was our one link, our key. Yuna approached my father and bowed low. He turned away because I saw he was trying not to cry. She, Kimhari, Auron, and Tidus left, leaving the rest of us to continue to talk it out.

"Sin is Jecht, Sin is Jecht," I said over and over to myself. "You know, it really doesn't help that the people who knew Jecht best just left the room!"

"What you mean?" Wakka asked.

"Well, they know what would get Sin's attention! What kind of things would Jecht like? I don't know!"

"He liked Blitzball."

"Oh great. Let's just open up the stadium at Luca for another tournament and see if he shows up! Who's gonna come if they know Sin's gonna appear? You remember how freaked out they were about the fiends!"

"Sin always comes back for its spawn," Lulu noted.

"That's true, but that's just gonna be like Operation Mi'hen again, isn't it? Besides, we don't have any Sinspawn!"

"Yes, we do."

"Then why aren't we fighting it?"

"Uh, I think she means his son," Wakka said.

"Oh yeah, Sin's spawn. That must have been why we kept seeing Sin. Jecht wanted to see his son! And that must be why Tidus was always able to survive! So, what are you saying? Should we just have Tidus out as bait in the Calm Lands or something?"

"I don't think so, but–" Lulu started.

"Hang on, hang on. Remember when we were at Lake Macalania? Sin came, and he didn't attack us! Tidus believed he came to listen to the Hymn of the Fayth!"

"You really think Sin was listening?" Wakka said.

"Sin, violence incarnate, listening peacefully," Lulu mused. "But the music stopped!"

"Well, of course! The Fayth can't sing when the ultimate evil is there!"

"So if we play the Hymn of the Fayth loud enough–" Lulu started.

"–then it will get Sin's attention, and he will be not as willing to attack," Wakka surmised.

"And then, we can hit him head on!" I finished.

Just then, Tidus and Yuna returned to the bridge. "Hey guys, I just had a great idea!" Wakka said.

No way is he gonna steal my glory, I thought. I covered his mouth. "It was my idea! Let me tell them!" We wrestled awhile, but then Lulu said it.

"The Hymn is the key." Wakka and I were both disappointed that we lost our chance.

"The Hymn?" Tidus asked.

"Sir Jecht likes the Hymn of the Fayth, does he not?"

"That's right."

"We knew it!" I said. "He was listening to it at Lake Macalania!"

"Um, I know it's your dad, and I mean no disrespect, but–" Wakka started.

"It's OK. I'm used to it," Tidus interrupted.

"Let me say it," Lulu cut in. "If we attack Sin head on, we have little chance of winning. However, if he hears the Hymn of the Fayth, he will become docile."

"Then we could make our move!" Wakka concluded. "It might be against the rules, but who's keeping track, yah? It's worth a shot, yah?" We all agreed that it was.

"Everyone," Yuna spoke up, "Tidus, Kimhari, and I have been talking, and we have another idea that would also be wise to follow. We believe we should return to Bevelle and request the counsel of Grand Maester Mika."

"You sure? It's not like he's been on the same page with us."

"Yeah," I added. "Last we heard, he had written us off as guilty of murder!"

"Maester Mika knows more of the teachings of Yevon than anyone in Spira," Yuna answered. "It would be prudent for use to listen to the wisdom of the other side. Perhaps he may know who Yu Yevon is."

"And if he threatens us, we'll just threaten him back!" Tidus added.

I didn't have as good a feeling about that, but Yuna seemed convinced that it was the best thing to do. So we first went to Bevelle. Of course, the moment we got there, the monks pulled their guns on us and called us traitors. We were just about to fight back when–

"STOP!" The same acolyte we had met several times on our journey approached us. "In the name of Maester Mika, Lady Yuna and her guardians should not be harmed! They are no traitors; that was an evil rumor spread by the Al Bhed!"

"What?!" I yelled in annoyance. Why do we have to take the fall for everything? If the hatred against us is ever going to stop, it's going to take awhile. The warriors lowered their guns, but then I confronted the acolyte about her Al Bhed comment.

"Truly, I do not know myself," she defended. "All of Yevon seems to be in disarray. Yesterday, they made me the Captain of the Guard out of the blue!"

"Running short of believers?" Auron suggested.

"Yes! The chaos of the temples is unimaginable! But I must stand strong as a rock against the storm. All of you have given me the courage."

"Please, we have come to see Maester Mika," Yuna said. "Is he here?"

"Yes, I will go arrange an audience with him immediately."

"But, but that doesn't explain why he's blaming the Al Bhed!" I argued.

"That's simple," Auron replied. "Yuna is Maester Mika's only hope."

I tried to figure it out, but I eventually decided that it would get me nowhere. "OK," I said cheerfully.

"Don't worry," Tidus said with a wink. "We're gonna teach him some manners!"

We went into the same great hall where the trail was held. Maester Mika looked very troubled. "Why have you come?" he demanded in a voice full of fear and dispair. "You must defeat Sin immediately! Have you not obtained the Final Aeon from Lady Yunalesca?"

"Well, uh, we met her," Tidus answered.

"And we fought and defeated her!" Yuna said boldly.

"What?!" the maester cried.

"It is so," Auron said. "Summoners and guardians will nevermore be sacrificed for the Final Summoning."

"You have profaned and subverted an ancient tradition? Fools! Infants! Don't you realize you have destroyed the only means of calming Sin?"

"But we think we have another way!" Tidus protested.

"Preposterous! There is no other way! Spira has lost its only hope. Destruction is eminent! Yu Yevon will trap us forever in his spiral of death! I will not stay to watch Spira die!"

"It will not die!" Yuna and I said together. Then, all of us demanded that he tell us who or what Yu Yevon is.

"He who crafts the souls of the dead in unholy armor, the armor called Sin! Clad within it, Yu Yevon is invincible, and the one means of piercing that armor, you have destroyed! Now, it will never be stopped!" With that, he raised his hands and disappeared into a cloud of pyreflies.

"What happened?" I asked. "Did he just send himself?"

"The unsent can do a lot of weird things, yah?" Wakka said. He shook his fist at the heavens. "He didn't have to go disappear on us, though."

Suddenly, Tidus and Yuna looked like they were talking to someone, but we couldn't see anybody. Yuna told us that she needed to go to the Chamber of the Fayth, and they departed.

"I don't get it!" I said in annoyance after they left. "Why does everybody say it's so hopeless? The answer is right in front of us! It's so obvious!"

"The most obvious answer is often the most difficult to see," Auron said.

"Oh . . . if only everyone in Spira would stop hating us!"

"But it's hard," Wakka answered in a tender voice. "After all we've been taught for so long. We're stuck in our ways. What do you expect us to do, go around Spira and say, 'Hey, don't hate the Al Bhed anymore?'"

"Still, we need someway to create a sense of unity," Lulu said. "That's a way to start. How can we do that?"

"I know what everybody in Spira has in common!" I said.

"What?" Lulu and Wakka asked together.

"The Hymn! I've heard everyone, every race, sing the Hymn of the Fayth!"

"You're right!" Lulu said.

"So, what should we do?" Wakka asked.

"When we play the Hymn on the airship, we'll just ask everyone in Spira to sing with it!" I said. "That way, they'll feel united! They'll feel like they're all responsible for defeating Sin!"

"You know, that just might do it!" Lulu said.

"Yeah, Rikku! You're really smart!" Wakka said.

"Still, you must understand, centuries of hatred will be very difficult to end," Auron reminded.

"I know, but I can be patient," I nodded. Yuna and Tidus came back, and we told the female acolyte to spread the word around Spira regarding the Hymn. She agreed that she would.

Back on the ship I told Father and Brother of the plan. Father assured me he'd look through the ship's audio files and see what he could do. He let me take some of the control up at the helm while he was looking. While I was up there, I told Brother a little bit about my journey and all the other people with me.

"They're not too bad, for black circles that is," Brother muttered.

"Brother, you can't say that anymore!" I scolded him.

"What?!" He took his eyes off the sky for just a moment. "Sister, you know the things they say about us behind our backs! Don't I have the right to say same?"

"No you don't! Brother, think about it. How are we going to stop the hatred against us if we hate back? We got to stop this! No more insults! No more machina fiends!"

"How is that going to change anything?" Father broke in. "You know what they say, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same!' There's nothing we can do to make people stop hating us; it's _esbuccepma!_" (impossible) "_Tayn,_ you're really starting to sound like–"

"_Ihlma_ Braska?"

Brother gasped in shock. Father looked like he was trying so hard to control his rage. "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO CALL HIM THAT!"

"But he is my uncle, Father, and I am proud that he is part of my family tree. He was a wise man. You can see the wisdom live on in his daughter, and I want it to live in me."

"But look at where his thinking got him! He went to Zanarkand to die! You call that wise? I say that's the most foolish thing anyone could do!"

"You're right. It was foolish, but he didn't know until he got there how foolish it really was. I'm not going to hold it against him. He had a vision that no one else in Spira ever had–a united, Sin-free Spira. He did all that he could do to try and achieve it. I say that made him wise."

"But Braska's guardians tried to kill Father," Brother argued.

"And Uncle Braska saved him."

"How do you know about that?" Father asked. "Did Auron tell you his side? Because it was obviously skewed."

"Auron did more than tell me. He showed me in a movie sphere. I really ought to show you and Brother when this is all over. Look, maybe it is impossible as you say, but we can still try. We'll never know if we don't try. We can reach out to the non-Al Bhed. When we defeat Sin, we can share that triumph with them. We can share our interests, like Blitzball! We could just try to be friends with them, despite everything." Then I looked at Brother. "And we can start by learning their language."

"AAAAGH!" Brother groaned. "Do I have to?"

"It's easy! All you gotta do is rearrange the alphabet! That's really all there is to it. Everything else is the same as far as grammar goes. Well, I guess they have a few more words meant to clarify things."

"I suppose . . . maybe I could. I'm . . . I'm glad we found Yuna. She . . . looks really nice, you know."

"Nice in what way?" I playfully slapped at his shoulder.

"Rao! Lid dryd uid!" I laughed, and he laughed a little too, but then he turned to me. "How do you say that?"

"Hey, cut that out."

"It sounds so different."

"Trust me. Once you start learning, you'll see how simple it is. Father and I will teach you."

Meanwhile, Father was wondering off by himself, muttering, "Reach out . . . share our triumph . . . hmmm . . ." Oh boy, Father's planning something again.

He soon got a beautiful audio file of a chorus singing the Hymn in four part harmony. After he turned it on, there was a moment of silence. We all waited with bated breath, hoping that Sin heard. Suddenly, Brother jumped out of his seat. "SIN!" On the screen, we could see the monster coming right for us. We immediately proceeded to the deck.

Outside, I could still hear the Hymn all around us. That faithful acolyte passed along the message! Somewhere below, every human creature was singing with all their hearts. How's that for hope?

Then, everything around us shook. We saw the beast open its mouth, and a huge ball of energy was forming around it. All of us hit the deck, bracing for impact . . . but no impact came. Everything was so quiet and still. It was like time had stopped. I stood up and looked around. I don't know how to describe what I saw. It was like Sin had torn a hole, through the earth, through the ocean, even through the sky. As soon as I took in that marvel, everything started again. The hole collapsed on itself. It was a wonder that we weren't all destroyed by the blow.

Just then, Father called us. He noticed a weakness under each of Sin's arms. He asked us to attack the spots with all of our might and then he'd hit them with the big gun. It wasn't easy, but we did it. Then, just our luck, the main gun jammed. So we jumped onto Sin and fought another weak spot on its head. That was even harder. We got the job done, though. Sin crashed into Bevelle.

Yuna and Tidus walked alone. I stayed on the bridge to watch. After a while, Sin started to move. I quickly paged Yuna and Tidus, and we watched as the beast grew wings and mounted on the tower in Bevelle. We knew it was time. Jecht was waiting for the final battle. Tidus ordered Father to take the ship into the beast itself.

All of us went to the deck as the ship went inside. It was strange. Even though this was the ultimate creature of evil, the journey in was beautiful. I dare say I saw more pyreflies floating around us than in the Farplane. As we looked on in wonder, we suddenly heard a familiar, nasal laughed. We looked up and saw Seymour's face. The vision seemed to draw us in at mach speed, but as soon as it happened, it was over. Then we landed and made our way through.

I gotta say, getting through Sin was probably the hardest part of the whole journey. The fiends were a lot tougher and a lot more numerous. A dense fog was all around us, so we couldn't see clearly where were going. It took forever for us to find a Save Sphere and renew ourselves. At the Save Sphere, though, Seymour was waiting for us. He had this crazy idea that Sin chose him and he was going to learn how to control Sin. We were just anxious to get rid of him. So we fought him harder than ever until he fell. Then, then, finally, Yuna performed the sending. I wasn't paying attention; I was too busy looking at him. "So Seymour, tell us, does death end pain? Does it end suffering? Is death love, Seymour? You're dying alone. How can it be?"

"It matters not, Miss Rikku," he replied in a raspy whisper. "Perhaps I have lost my hope, but so has Spira." Then, he became a cloud of pyreflies.

After he disappeared, I muttered to myself, "To think I used to think he was handsome."

I must have said that louder than I intended because everyone looked at me. "What did you just say?!" Tidus asked.

"Uh, nothing!"

Yuna laughed. "Maybe he should have proposed to you instead!"

"Hey! I would have figured out he was evil first!"

Just beyond where we confronted Seymour, there seemed to be a deserted city. The fiends there were even harder than they were outside, but there were some neat treasures hidden everywhere. As we got past everything, a huge tower crashed down in front of us. We went near it, and we were transported to this strange place where icicles and crystals fell from the sky. If we touched the icicles, we had to fight another fiend, but if we caught the crystals, they gave us rare treasures. After catching ten crystals, we were transported again to a dark platform surrounded in lava.

There, we saw a man. He was standing in the shadows with his back turned to us, but we all knew it was the same man that was in the movie spheres Auron showed us. I think seeing the human in Sin gave us some hesitation. We could see how hard this was going to be. I would have rather seen any fiend than that man.

"You're late, Auron," he said in a quiet, tired voice.

"I know," Auron replied with resignation.

The man turned around, and he smiled and waved. "Hey!"

"Hi," Tidus replied curtly.

"You got tall, but you're all bones! You eating right, boy?" Jecht laughed, but Tidus didn't respond. Then he added seriously, "You've really grown."

"Yeah, but you're still bigger."

"Hey, I'm Sin after all!" Jecht replied in a jovial tone.

"That's not funny."

"I know." He started walking closer to us. "Well, you got together a good team. It made this kinda fun."

"Fun?! You call destroying Spira fun?! Tearing up those houses in Kilika? Destroying all those people on Mushroom Rock? That was FUN?!"

"You know I didn't want to. I would have stopped if I could. But I saw all of you when we were fighting, and I knew you could stop me. I could see that you had it in your hearts. All the same, though, you know how I love a challenge." He chuckled. "Kinda took me back to my Blitzball days. Speaking of," he turned to Wakka, "you play too, don't you?"

"Yah," he said uncertainly.

"Amateur?"

"No, professional! Well, I was."

"Could've fooled me!" Jecht laughed heartily, but Wakka looked rejected. "Oh come on, kid, I was just playing with ya. So you quit?"

"I retired, to focus on the pilgrimage."

"If you survive, do me a favor. Come out of retirement. Keep the game alive." Jecht patted his shoulder. "By the way, sorry about your brother."

"Uh . . ." Wakka stood there with his mouth open, a complete loss for words. It didn't matter anyway because Jecht moved on to Lulu.

"And you, you are impressive. I'd never seen black magic like you could do. Auron and I were way too lazy to learn much magic. Braska knew some, but it was mostly white. So that was awesome."

"Thanks," Lulu replied quietly.

"Then, there's you," Jecht said approaching the Kimhari. "I never did meet many Ronso on my journey, but I think of all the ones I've seen, you're the strongest."

"Kimhari is honored," the Ronso replied with a bow.

"Yeah. Thanks for looking after her," Jecht added, nodding toward Yuna. Kimhari only made a deep growl in response.

Then Jecht walked up to me. "I remember you! Braska's cute, little niece!" He started playing with my ponytail. I couldn't stop myself from giggling a little. "Oh, you're still very cute, and such pretty eyes too!" I smiled. I don't think a non-Al Bhed ever complimented my eyes; most of them must have been too disgusted by the spiraling pupils. Then, he put his hand on my shoulder and said seriously, "You got spunk, kid. Never lose it."

"OK," I answered. "Um, thank you for bringing me Home that time."

Jecht shrugged. "Hey, it was the least I could do." Then, he walked over to Yuna. "And you . . . Yuna . . ." All the joviality left his voice, as though he was about to cry. "You still look so young." He ran his hand through her hair. "You're eyes . . . they're also lovely. They're not how I remember them."

"They changed," she answered. "When I first joined with a Fayth, they changed."

"I thought so." He sighed sadly. "Your . . . your father would be so proud of you. I think . . . I think in some ways . . . you outmatched him."

"Thank you, Sir Jecht. I am honored," Yuna replied solemnly with a bow.

"Enough of this!" Auron demanded. "You're wasting time as usual, Jecht."

Auron turned around to him. "Well, I see you haven't changed!" he said with a laugh. "Still . . . you're not quite the same as I remember." He came closer. "That scar. Huh, there must be a story there."

"There's always a story," Auron replied coldly.

"Yeah, you're right. Sometime, I'm gonna have to hear it."

"Jecht, we don't have time for these pleasantries!"

"Give me a break, Auron! You think I wanted this? You think I asked to be Sin? This isn't what I signed up for at all! This is so hard for me!"

"That's enough, Dad!" Tidus yelled. "Let's just get this over with!"

Jecht turned to him with a sad look in his eyes and then nodded. "You're right. Let's end this."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

Tidus looked up at him coldly. "I hate you!"

Jecht laughed sadly. "I know, I know." I couldn't believe this. After all our talk about love, will it be hate that destroys Sin? "You know what you have to do."

"Yeah," Tidus nodded.

"I can't hear the Hymn so good anymore. Pretty soon, I'm gonna be Sin, completely. I'm glad you're here now, all of you. One thing, though, when it happens, I won't be myself anymore. I won't be able to hold myself back. I'm sorry." I could hear the agony in his voice. So, Sin could feel. Sin does have emotions.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Tidus said once more. "LET'S FINISH THIS!"

And once more, Jecht nodded sadly. "You're right." He started walking toward the edge of the platform. Then he turned around once more and said for the first time with excitement in his voice, "Then, let's go!"

Jecht then put his wrists together and began to glow. He held his hands high over his head as he glowed brighter and brighter. Then, he took one step back and fell into the lava. Tidus ran after him, but it was too late. Suddenly, a city lit up around us. It looked like Zanarkand, as we saw in Seymour's sphere. At that moment, a gigantic hand grabbed the platform and a huge monster that only barely resembled Jecht rose out of the lava pit and faced us. Tidus drew his sword. "I PROMISE THIS WILL BE QUICK! HIT ME WITH ALL YOU GOT, DAD!"

Living up to that promise was not going to be easy. I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that Sin was the strongest foe we ever faced. Every time we weakened him, these two towers attached to Sin and gave him back some HP. We could tell he was getting closer and closer to his Overdrive. Every time he got too close, Tidus yelled at him, and Sin calmed down. Once, though, Sin lost the last few traces of Jecht and couldn't hear Tidus. Then, he unleashed this super strong attack that nearly killed us all. We then decided not to hold back anymore. We all hit him back with our strongest Overdrives, and Yuna called her most powerful aeons. It seems after that, Sin fell easily. He collapsed and transformed back into Jecht in an explosion of light. The man also collapsed. Tidus ran forward and caught him.

Jecht laughed. "You'll cry. You always cry! See? You're crying!"

And he was right. Tidus was crying. I hadn't seen him cry since I told him about what Yuna was about to do, so I don't know what Jecht meant that he always cried. "I hate you, Dad." I think I was crying a little too. So was Yuna.

"Save it for later," Jecht said gently.

"You're right," Tidus nodded. "We got a job to do, don't we?"

"That's right. You're my son, after all."

"You know . . . for the first time, I'm glad . . . to have you as my . . . father." That made me feel somewhat better. Maybe Tidus was wrong. Maybe he didn't hate Jecht, even though he thought he did. Jecht only laughed. He must laugh a lot.

Yuna walked forward. "Sir Jecht, I should . . ."

But Jecht sat back up. "No! There's no time, Yuna!"

We saw something, like a sphere, flying through the air. Was that Yu Yevon? "You stay away!" Tidus yelled at it.

"You know what you must do, Yuna! The aeons!"

I heard a voice say all around me, "We aeons!"

"Call them!"

"Call us!"

I didn't understand. Jecht then fell to the ground and dissolved into pyreflies. The white orb came toward us and hit Sin's gigantic sword. We were all knocked down, and when we got up, we were standing on top of the sword and surrounded by a strange, pinkish light. Yuna went forward, raised her staff, and yelled, "Valefor!" The sky glowed brightly, and the gigantic bird aeon flew down. But it didn't take its place by Yunie's side. It was facing us. We had to fight it and every one of her other aeons. That was really hard, not just because they were aeons and they were being powered by those same two towers, but because we had grown to respect, maybe even rely on them. When they were gone, they were gone for good. Every defeated aeon hurt Yunie so, I could tell. She'd look down with great sadness for a moment, and then she'd look up with determination burning fiercely in her eyes.

Then, it was us and the sphere. It grew eight legs, and a crest appeared on its back. So it was Yu Yevon. Kinda disappointing. I wish it had some intelligence so that I could ask it why it created Sin in the first place and why it kept bringing Sin back. Then, I heard an even greater mystery.

"Everyone," Tidus said, "this will be the last time we fight together, OK?" We were all surprised to hear that. What could he mean? "What I'm trying to say is, once we defeat Yu Yevon, I'll disappear!"

"What are you talking about?" Lulu asked. Yuna looked at him with the greatest sadness, as though she was begging him to stay.

Tidus, however, drew his sword and approached Yu Yevon. "I'm saying goodbye!"

"Not now!" I implored.

He turned back but only for a second. "I know it's selfish, but . . . THIS IS MY STORY!"

So, we fought Yu Yevon together. I tell you what, without Sin he's a pansy. Yuna cast reflect on him and all of us, and his strongest spells hit him instead of us. It seemed like it didn't even take five minutes, and he was defeated.

So, it was over. Sin was forever destroyed. We didn't lose Yunie, but we still had to pay a price.


	13. Goodbyes

Chapter 13: Goodbyes

Chapter 13: Goodbyes

Yuna started to do the sending. I guess the most destructive fiend of all needed rest. It was the first, and I guess the last, time I really got to see her do a sending. But then, the same thing that happened on the Farplane happened again, and this time, we all saw. There were pyreflies swirling around, and they were coming from Auron. Yuna stopped dancing and looked at him in horror. I backed away from him and whispered, "No!"

But he looked up calmly. "Don't stop."

"But I—" Yuna started to say.

But Auron said in a comforting, tired whisper, "It's alright." He walked past all of us as Yuna returned to the dance. He didn't look at me long. He only patted Kimhari on the arm. I really couldn't believe what was happening. Auron was always there. Auron was always strong! He couldn't leave us, not now! His gaze focused on Tidus "It's been long enough. This is your world now." Then, he was no more than pyreflies scattered into the sky.

Yes it is, Auron, yes it is. I'll try not to let you down.

I wondered if Tidus was kidding a moment ago. But he had this distant look full of sadness and fear. He couldn't have been joking. So, what's going on?

Yuna continued to dance until the remains of Sin exploded in a fiery light. The monster which had plagued us for a thousand years was completely done for at last. The real Calm had come. And yet, it meant the end of others. We watched as the aeons faded away forever.

And then, as we were standing on the bridge of the airship, I looked at Tidus again, and he didn't look like himself. He was also fading. Yuna saw it too. "No!" she said.

He looked at her sadly. "Yuna, I have to go." She shook her head again. "I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand." He walked away, and looked back at us once. He didn't smile. He didn't wave. All he said was, "Goodbye!"

Goodbye? How could it be goodbye? After all he's done, how could he leave? Why must he leave? We tried to stop him, call him back. I asked him, "Will we see you again?" He didn't answer.

Yuna ran forward to hold him back, but she ran through him and fell down. Pyreflies flew through him. Yuna just stayed on the ground for a moment. Then she stood up and without turning around said to him, "I love you." And he came behind her and put his arms around her shoulders. It was a little mushy for me, and I thought they'd prefer some privacy. I kept one eye opened to see what was going to happen to him.

He walked through her, and without turning around, without giving us one final look, he ran off the edge of the deck.

That was the last time I saw him.

--

Afterwards, a big day came. They asked Yuna to give a speech at the biggest venue in Spira, which was of course, the Blitzball stadium in Luca. She was almost late because, Lulu told us, she was standing on the dock whistling with her fingers in her mouth, that same way Tidus did at Lake Macalania. She asked to all of us about what to say, and we all gave her ideas. We stood with Yuna on the stage as she gave her speech. Her words were very powerful, but many of them were forgotten—mostly my part.

"Everyone . . . everyone has lost something precious. Everyone here has lost homes, dreams, and friends. But now, Sin is finally dead." (Here, she was interrupted by applause.) "Now, Spira is ours again! Working together, now we can make new homes for ourselves and new dreams. And let us do it putting aside our differences." (The applause suddenly died down here.) "Let us forget the hatred we have harbored in our hearts for too long. Let us reach out to each other—be we Al Bhed, Ronso, Guado, Hyperbello, or human—with hands and hearts filled with love. Let us build and no longer destroy. Let us live and no longer fear. Let us help each other to ease our sorrow. Our lives and traditions will change forever, so let us work united as a family to make the future better than ever." (They started applauding again. Yuna paused to look back at us, and we all gave her an encouraging smile.) "The road is ahead of us, so let's start today. Just one more thing—the people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded . . . never forget them."

She said those last three words softly that few people understood that she was done. As she stepped off the stage, the stadium exploded in applause. Everyone was on their feet, and they clapped their hands for about ten minutes.

A few hours afterward, the time had come. The rest of us had to part. Though the fate of everybody else was a little clearer, it didn't make it any easier.

"So, you're going back to Besaid?" I said to Wakka.

"Yah," he nodded.

"Gonna start that family you talked about?"

"Uh . . ."

Lulu came to his side. "We're going to think about it."

"Oh. I didn't realize you—"

"We've known each other for a long time."

"Well, I think you'd make a cute couple. And what about the Aurochs?"

"I'm . . . gonna think about that, too," Wakka said. "Tidus did some scouting. He put together a rather decent team. And . . . I kinda wanna take Sir Jecht's advice. Though I'm wondering if I should. It did come from Sin, after all. Weird, yah?"

"Yah." I laughed.

"Hey, come here!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug. "Thanks," he whispered.

Lulu hugged me too. "I'll miss you," she said.

"I'm going to miss you, too," I nodded.

"Always right here, yah?" Wakka said, pounding on his chest.

"You bet!" Then, Yuna and Kimhari joined us. "So, what's gonna happen to you? Are you gonna be the new Grand Maester now?"

Yuna shrugged. "I'm a bit too young to be Grand Maester."

"Oh, come on! You beat Sin! What more experience do you need?"

Yuna laughed. "I guess I'll do it if they ask, but I'm not really seeking the job. I'm thinking about going back to Besaid."

"And what are you gonna do there?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll give advice at the temple, and then I guess I'll just . . . live a normal life. I've always wondered what that would be like."

"Will you come visit?"

"I'd love to. Where's your Home now?"

"I don't know. I guess . . . Home could be anywhere now, since we have the airship. Maybe sometime, I'll visit you."

"I'd like that." She hugged me. "Thank you, Rikku. I'm so glad you're my cousin."

"Thank you, Yuna. You've inspired me in so many ways. I'm glad you didn't have to die."

Yuna grinned. "Yeah. I'm glad, too." We both laughed.

"And what about Kimhari?"

The Ronso looked at me. "Kimhari return to Mt. Gagazet, Ronso home. Kimhari will build home anew, like Rikku."

"You know, I think Seymour lied. There's gotta be more Ronso out there."

"Kimhari not worried. Kimhari will never be alone."

"That's true." I hugged him. I never noticed how soft he was.

_"Tayn!"_ I heard my father call. _"Mad'c ku Rusa!"_ (Let's go Home)

_"Cuihtc kuut!"_ (sounds good) I replied. He and Brother came forward to see my friends

"Well, Yuna, a while ago, I sent my niece to keep you safe. Now, I guess I should thank you for keeping her safe," Father said as he held out his hand for her to shake.

She surprised him by hugging him instead. "No, Uncle Cid, thank you for sending her to me. I couldn't imagine my journey without her."

Father released himself from the hug, with a big smile on his face. I don't think I've ever seen him smile that big! "You know, you'll always be welcome in our family. So, don't be a stranger! Send us a sphere if you ever want to see us."

"Yes, Uncle Cid. Thank you."

"Same goes for all of you!" Father said pointing to the rest of them. "Now, Lady Yuna, we're going to start following some of your advice. We got a Home to build!"

"May you be blessed, Uncle, you and your family!" Yuna started doing the Yevon bow, but then she stopped awkwardly.

"Oh by the way, how well do you really think we Al Bhed will be accepted now?"

"Well, doubtless it will take time, but . . ."

We looked over and saw Wakka giving a tight handshake with a certain Al Bhed. "Take it easy, Brudda."

"Uh, thanks . . . brud-der," Brother replied.

"I think things will go fine," I smiled.

"Come on, Son, let's go!" Father called.

"Father, can't I stay for a little while?" Brother called back in Al Bhed. "I think Yuna would be a good tutor to learn this new language."

"Your sister will be better!"

"AAAAGH!" He started shaking around all frustrated as he ran back. I couldn't help laughing. That's my brother!

--

The other day, I went to Guadosalam. It still looks like it's a city in a tree, but much has changed. There's no maester there, not even a priest. In fact, I didn't see a lot of Guado there. But there is one thing still there, and it's what I came for.

I must have had a lot more in my mind than I thought when I stepped into the Farplane. I looked in the distance, watching the pyreflies. Pyreflies, they're kinda a rare sight these days. I guess under the Eternal Calm, most people have learned to rest a little easier. Or maybe it's because death has become a bit more taboo than it used to be. After staring for a while and thinking, an image appeared before me. "No, Mother, I'm sorry. Not today." It faded away, and another vision appeared. It took me a little while to recognize him. "Keyakku? Sorry, another day." So, he too disappeared. And then, slowly the pyreflies came together and formed a big man in a red cloak.

"There you are, old friend," I said. "I know, I know you told me you're always with me. And there are a lot of times when I really need it that I hear your wisdom, or brutal honesty. I didn't really have to come here. But I just wanted to see you again. I'm so haunted by what happened. Yuna told us never to forget, and I don't think I ever will. You know, thinking back on everything, I think I finally understand how you did all that weird stuff, like show in my room when it was locked, or when you were in the Chamber of the Fayth with Yuna. You were making use of those powers you had as an unsent. Maybe that's how you kept getting in my head, too, or maybe you were just a very perceptive person. I guess it made a lot of things make more sense. Some things, though, just don't make sense no matter what I think.

"Anyway, though, it just occurred to me, you didn't really say 'goodbye.' You basically said we didn't need you anymore. And you were right, we didn't. I realize that now. So, I guess that's why I came. I wanted to say 'goodbye.' And I wanted to say 'thank you.' You would hardly recognize Spira anymore. I've been going all around Spira, trying to honor my promise to you, and teaching everybody about machina while I'm at it. Well, we call it 'machines' now. I wish I could say everything changed for the better, but you know, there are some things that never change, and some people who never learn, some people who may never grow. But it's much better than it was. I mean, I'm pretty sure Braska–" Suddenly, another image formed in front of me. 'Oh, I forgot I had memories of you. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm pretty sure Brask–well, you–can rest more easily now. There's not much hatred directed to the Al Bhed anymore. And we have both of you to thank for a lot of that—Braska, your selfless love for everyone in Spira that showed me the way, and Auron, your wisdom, your strength, your basic ability to push people where they're supposed to go. So . . . I think I'll always be grateful. OK."

I closed my eyes and thought again, really, really hard. But when I opened them, he wasn't there. "Where is he? I'm thinking about him! I saw him go! Where is he? Is he here? Could he possibly be alive? Oh, but what happened to him? Why did he have to go? Where did he go? When is he coming back?"

Auron's image appeared before me again. I thought, for a moment, I saw him shake his head. "Yeah. I know. Even if you were alive, you wouldn't answer my questions, even though I bet you know all the answers. Well, I probably overstayed my welcome. You wouldn't want me to dwell on the past. Maybe now, I can finally let the past rest. So . . . I guess I'll go. _Cmaab baylavimmo, so vneaht_." (Sleep peacefully, my friend)

I started to walk on, but then I turned around. "Oh, just one more thing!" The pyreflies came together one more time to form a rugged, bare-chested man. "I thought you might want to know, your son loved you. He may have said differently, but I know he loved you. And don't worry, I still got plenty of spunk!" I grinned and skipped out of the Farplane.


End file.
